Car Share: The Sweetest Thing
by Golden Suze
Summary: Kayleigh isn't feeling herself - she has a secret, which she doesn't want to tell John but how long can she keep it from him and how will he react once he finds out.
1. What's wrong?

**Kayleigh isn't feeling herself - she has a secret, which she doesn't want to tell John but how long can she keep it from him and how will he react once he finds out.**

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 **Car Share: The Sweetest Thing**

 **Chapter 1**

John and Kayleigh were experiencing absolute relationship bliss over these last 8 months. They couldn't have been any happier. It was only in the past week, John started noticing Kayleigh wasn't doing one of her delightful seductive moans every time he nuzzled her neck. He was baffled at her sudden change in behaviour. Was she upset with him for chatting to Rachel the other day and then going missing with her from the shop floor? Was she still unsure over whether she should believe his reason for this? John had explained to Kayleigh, the reason why he wandered off unexpectedly with Rachel. He had been persuaded to sit in on a meeting between Cath Hilton and Rachel in Cath's office, Rachel needed to fill in paperwork for her transfer to the Wigan store.

"What's up Kayleigh?"

"It's nothing John. Can we not bring the mood down." Kaylegh sighs. Something is playing on her mind. Something she was nervous to tell John about. She hadn't even told Mandy what her secret was, which was a first for her, the Kitson sisters had told each other everything they wouldn't tell Steve or Kieran on Skype.

"You've had a face on you like Jose Mourinho since this morning Look is it to do with me not telling you Dave asked me to sit in on Cath's meeting with Rachel? Anyway, I thought you'd be throwing a party, knowing you don't have to work alongside Rachel anymore."

"I think Elsie's already beaten me to that. You should have seen her behind the deli counter. Poor Gareth will be traumatized after seeing her Gangnam Style." Kayleigh chose not to answer his question. Further adding to her odd behaviour.

John chuckles to himself. One way or another he vowed to find out why Kayleigh was being secretive. Surely she wouldn't cheat on him. How he hated questioning this possibility. There was that new lad in the warehouse, blond-haired Lucas who looked like a young David Beckham, who John thought was eyeing up Kayleigh when they arrived together yesterday for work. That matter soon resolved itself later yesterday afternoon when he spotted Lucas swapping numbers with one of the ladies off Customer Service. He felt a bit embarrassed about getting the wrong end of the stick.

The rest of the trip up to Bury had become a quiet affair. John gave a sideways glance over at Kayleigh, while they were stuck at the traffic lights. She definitely wasn't herself today. Her hands were in her lap, clutching her handbag. She had something in it, something which she clearly didn't want him to see.

"We're okay, aren't we?" John asks her suddenly. He has to get her to finally open up to him. According to Paul, keeping the tiniest of secrets from your other half was a relationship destroyer and a heartbreaker. John doesn't want this to happen with their relationship. This was now their first major test, the first stumbling block, it was a bloody nervous one which John was clearly certain of.

"Course we are, John. Why do you say that?" She asks him with a confused look. For John, trying to read her face had been like trying to solve a Rubix Cube.

"Well, don't get mad with me but I just get the feeling there's something you're not telling me, Kayleigh. Whatever it is. I'll understand." John tries to make her feel they can share a heart to heart with each other and that they could finally get everything off their chest.

"Why would I get mad with you? Nothing's going to stop me loving you Jonathan Redmond. Not Dave 'Wee Dickhead' Thompson. Not Creepy Stink Ray, who keeps following me to the canteen. Not Elsie, who keeps asking me where me and you are up to in our relationship. She's a right nosy cow." Kayleigh starts to release huge weight off her shoulders. She relaxes slightly better in her seat knowing she's done her best to reassure him, how she'll never stop loving him.

"Then what is it then?" John asks. He supportively places his hand across hers. She responds with a loving smile. He's certainly having a calming effect on her this time around. He thinks he came on a bit too strong a few minutes earlier by bringing up Rachel.

"You really want me to tell you?" Kayleigh questions.

"Yes." John is desperate to know.

Kayleigh's eyes briefly glance down at his hands before she returns her focus on unbuttoning her jacket and showing John what she's been attempting to conceal from him. John quietly watches on. He can tell she means well and that she's being the most honest she's ever been with him. The surprise that greets John is a baby bump.

"Where am I looking?" John asks. He hasn't quite got it yet. He's staring at her breasts curiously.

"I haven't given Cagney and Lacey a promotion if that's what you're thinking. Anyway, you've seen them enough lately." Kayleigh giggles. "No here." She picks up his left hand and places it over her bump. John has to work this out himself, she can't tell him herself because she thinks that would spoil the spoiler. He does a facial double take while his hand is caressing her small bump. The truth eventually dawns on him. She doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to work out what he must be thinking right at that very moment. The joy of becoming a father for the first time was written all over his face.

"You're...you're pregnant?" John's reaction is the sweetest thing ever. He can't believe it. He knows he once told her that he liked his life the way it already was but now since he and Kayleigh were very much in love and the fact she had turned his dark skies blue, he couldn't be any happier than he already liked to admit.

"I am. Look I'm sorry for blowing hot and cold with you this week. My head's been all over the place. I was nervous because I thought you would end our relationship and tell me you didn't want to be a dad."

"The Old me would be bloody running a mile and not looking back once you told him but THIS me, well he might be feeling a little nervous, to begin with, but I'm sure he'll get off his arse and show he's willing to learn the ropes of fatherhood."

"What you on about? You've been getting off your arse since you insisted on walking me back to Our Mandy's house after we got the bus together and you gave me a goodnight kiss before you got in that taxi home. Then again when you drove all the way up to Bury in your new Audi car, just so you could give Steve a lift to the Man United game on New Year's Day. Even Our Mandy was impressed that you went out of your way, which was a first because nobody's impressed her like that before. John, I know you're going to be a brilliant dad." Kayleigh's words were enough to reassure John, who was smiling to himself.

John was an absolute godsend for coming to the rescue for the Price/Kitson family over the last few months. Even Alfie and Chloe were surprisingly singing his praises, the only way they knew how. "Aunty Kayleigh, when's Uncle John coming to visit? Is he coming today or tonight?" The questions were endless with those two.

"I don't regret changing my mind that day you know. I know I said I needed time but it turned out I didn't actually need it after all. Crazy what being in love does to you."

"You mean to say you waited for the right moment to kiss me. You're such a gentleman, John." Kayleigh beams with one of her usual beautiful smiles.

"I couldn't kiss you on the bus could I? not in front of those two nosy bastards who got on few stops before we got off the bus," John explains his reason for why he held himself back from kissing her for as long as possible that September day.

"I remember the look they gave you when they saw us holding hands. It was like they were they thinking 'how he's managed to pull that fit bird'" Kayleigh laughs as she reflects on what happened that day.

John's red Audi was now only a few streets away from Mandy's house. "So, how are we going to tell your Mandy?"

"No point telling her. She'll have it worked out soon as she sees the looks on our faces. She's good at sniffing the truth out of you." Kayleigh was never good at keeping secrets from her sister. Neither was Steve or the kids. Kayleigh reckons Mandy should have chosen a career as a detective rather than being a receptionist at the local Dental Surgery.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" John asks as the Audi pulls up outside Mandy's house. Steve's currently tinkering with his latest motorbike beneath the green gazebo. Honestly, from the looks of thing, the man clearly loved fixing his bike more than sitting down and watching The Only Way is Essex with Mandy. Steve has obviously heard the car pulling up a few metres away. He glances up to see who it is, as soon as he sees it's Kayleigh and John, he gives them both a wave with his greasy hand.

"You might as well, now Steve's seen you. I'm going need you by my side when we tell Mandy, don't forget." Kayleigh reminds him. She seriously hopes Steve' isn't going to stick his oar in by distracting John with more boring motorbike talk.

"Give over. Cause I'll be by your side. I'm not going to ride off into the sunset on that horror show of a bike of Steve's."

Kayleigh laughs at his comment. "Oi. Don't let Steve hear you saying that, John. He thinks it's his pride and joy."

"Bollocks." John cries with laughter. "We might as well go and tell your Mandy then, seeing as we've busted by Steve," John tells her as he's unfastening his seatbelt. However Kayleigh's way ahead of him, she's already got one leg positioned out of the passenger doorway. Steve's watching on, intrigued. He's stood with both hands on his hips.

"3, 2, 1..." Kayleigh quietly says to herself before she eventually gets out of her side of the car. John's not far behind, getting out the opposite side of the car.

John laced his fingers with his. Giving them a squeeze and a gentle kiss across her knuckles. He really was one of a kind, the most caring, loving and patient man she has ever known.

"How do lovebirds. Mandy was just saying she was gonna send a search party out for you two because you didn't drop her off at the normal time you do." Steve smirks knowingly as he greets them. He wasn't daft, seeing as he's a dad of two and how he's experienced putting up with Mandy's morning sickness during pregnancy. Well, it would definitely explain why Kayleigh had recently been spending a lot of time in the bathroom throwing up. Mandy's tea meals clearly weren't to blame for this neither was the awful smell of his unwashed boots. He keeps this quietly to himself until after Mandy tels him the news.

"Alright, Steve. Sorry, we lost track of time didn't we Kayleigh." John says the first thing that comes out of his head.

"Oh yeah. Traffic was mental. I thought me and John were going to find ourselves stuck all night in it. Some daft idiot was bloody mooning a police patrol car. Oh it was terrible wasn't it John? That poor woman in the car in front of us, she nearly fainted in shock." Kayleigh couldn't quite match John in the 'describe the first thing which comes out of your head' versus your other half's version contest. John looks sheepishly. Yes, she had well and truly given one of the silliest explanations he had ever heard and now the secrecy surrounding their good news seemed like it wouldn't last more than five minutes.

Steve isn't buying Kayleigh's excuse. He knows by now that the Kitson sisters weren't how you could say, brilliant at convincing you or someone else with one of their last-minute excuses.

"If you're looking for Mandy, she's in the living room with her feet up, watching Neighbours." John and Kayleigh walk up the pathway and past Steve. They enter the house.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**


	2. Chapter 2

**Car Share: The Sweetest Thing**

 **Chapter 2**

They were barely through the door when Mandy's voice could be heard calling out to her sister from the living room. "Kayleigh is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me, Mand. John's here with me." Kayleigh responds. She gives a nervous look as they're standing in the hallway. John sighs, shaking his head. What has she to feel scared of? Mandy will obviously be thrilled for them once they share their good news with her and they let her take a moment or two for it all to sink for her, the prospect of her becoming an auntie.

"Come in then you two. I won't breathe down your neck like a dragon you know, for John dropping you off late from work." Mandy insists on Kayleigh showing her face in the living room. John gently ushers his reluctant girlfriend into the room, so she could speak to her sister face to face.

"Sorry, I didn't text you to say I'd be home slightly later than usual." Kayleigh apologies. She isn't sure on how to bring up her happy news, seeing as Mandy was glued to the tv watching the last ten minutes of Neighbours. She turns to John, looking for some words of encouragement from him. He gestures for her to sit down with him on the double seater sofa. They needed to gain her full attention, they weren't going to get her listening to them while she was watching the television.

"Sis, you've really got to stop apologizing for everything. I wasn't worried about where you were. I presumed you'd be going to John's house tonight. Besides you, two have been inseparable these past few months."

"We have," Kayleigh says as she and John can't resist sharing a tender and loving smile between each other. She snuggles up to him on the sofa. Mandy was going to tell her off for curling up barefooted on her newly bought sofa but she decided not to, seeing how smitten and hopelessly in love her sister looks.

"Aww look at you two. You've certainly made my sister one very happy woman, John." Mandy comments.

"Erm...Mandy..." Kayleigh chooses to tell her sister as soon as Mady reaches for the remote control. "I've...well I and John, you see, we've got something to tell you..."

"Okay. Go on." Mandy suddenly sits back in her chair, she's curious to know what Kayleigh's on the verge of telling her. Perhaps she wants her little sister to be the first to know that she's moving in with John permanently and the box room will now become available again for her to put her hair and beauty accessories away inside it.

"You know how I've always told you how much I want to experience what it feels like to be in your steps as a mother...well now I'm going to get that chance for real." The pure joy and excitement were written all over Kayleigh's face.

"Are you...?" It dawns on Mandy what Kayleigh is now trying to tell her. She's saying she's expecting.

"Pregnant...yes. You're going to be an auntie, Mand." Kayleigh confirms. Mandy leaps up from the sofa excitedly and goes over to congratulate the couple.

FLASHBACK

It's New Year's Eve in the Redmond household. Paul's snoring his head off on the sofa much to his and John's mum's annoyance. Nana Rose is chatting and a giggle with Mandy in the living room. John and Kayleigh are having some alone time together, on the wooden bench outside in the back garden. They're holding hands and looking every bit the happiest loved-up couple you could ever meet. They were wearing festive sparkly jumpers.

"Shame Kieran couldn't make it home in time for Christmas. I was hoping to ask him if he knows any other Cheeky drinks. You must miss him a lot around the holidays." John can tell Kayleigh is clearly missing her brother not being home for Christmas from Afghanistan.

"Oh, all the time." Kayleigh sighs. She rests her head on his shoulder. Fireworks could be heard from the far distance. It was extremely cold that night, one of the coldest December nights in a few years. As tempting as it was to remain outside with the rest of John's family, Kayleigh wanted to desperately head back inside the house and lay on John's bed with him. She didn't feel up to doing the countdown celebration with everyone. They take a stroll across the patio part of the garden.

"Mum...Mum..." John calls across the garden to get his mum's attention. She's busy filling a glasses of champagne in the conservatory.

"John is everything okay?" She hears him the second time he calls her. What on earth was he shouting about? She goes to see what's up.

"Me and Kayleigh are going back inside the house if that's okay?" John hopes she has no problem with him and Kayleigh getting an early night.

"Yes, it's fine, John. Here take these with you." She hands him two tall glasses of champagne. John hands one to Kayleigh, who eagerly takes a quick sip from her glass. "Steady on Kayleigh love. I've not got much bubbly left in the fridge." John's mum laughs. She only had half a bottle left which she was intending to save for when her friend Barbara comes round to the house next week.

John takes Kayleigh into the house while the rest of the family and Mandy continue to admire the fireworks sparkling and lighting up the sky. By the time they got to the stairs, her glass was now completely empty, much to John's non-surprise.

"Don't want you getting fluffy drunk on me now." John jokes while he's leading her upstairs to their bedroom for the evening. Her lips are a mere few centimetres from the back of his neck. He believes she's considering shagging him as soon as he opens the door.

"Pfft, as if I would!" Kayleigh plays the coy innocence card with him. Once they reached the top of the stairs, John guides her into the room. The walls of the room are covered with tropical floral wallpaper and the carpet had a burgundy theme with a purple rug in the middle of the room. John places his glass of bubbly down on the table right by where the widescreen tv was attached to the wall.

"Can we just a cuddle on the bed, if that's okay? Perhaps we could listen to my festive playlist on my phone." Kayleigh suggests. It was an offer John simply could not refuse. Kayleigh crawls onto the bed first and pats the side next to her, indicating she's expecting him to join her straight away. John smiles appreciatively and soon climbs onto the bed. Settling himself alongside her and allowing her to lay her head on his shoulder. He knows she said she wants a cuddle from him but he can't help but feel tempted to take it one step further.

"Mmm, I love this. Don't want to let you go" John always cherished these wonderful and heartwarming moments every time he held her in his arms this way.

"I don't want to let go of you either John. You know, you're like the world's greatest sex magnet ever one that's reserved especially for me, drawing me in, making my heart do things it's never done before. That's the effect you have on me, Jonathan." Kayleigh beams. She's unbelievably delighted because of how far they had come in her relationship with John. They made love for the first time over a month ago when they were left Mandy's house to themselves for the evening but now as they laid together, looking the complete picture of happiness, the thought of expressing their love for each other was playing on their minds.

The only downer was that they weren't alone in the house, their families happened to be downstairs in the garden, soaking in the New Year atmosphere and celebrations. John had learned a lot of surprising things that very evening, Kayleigh revealing herself to be quite the screamer when making love and how the two of them were both quite energetic in the bedroom.

John strokes her hair and is careful not to stroke her curls out of place. He looks thoughtful and handsome, Kayleigh thinks as she gazes up at him. John is reflecting on a promise which the two of them both agreed on when they left work together, on Christmas Eve.

"I know we said we shouldn't have sex tonight while we're in my mum's house."

"Yeah, we did."

"Well, I lied when I said we shouldn't."

"So did I when I agreed with you."

John doesn't waste any time in making her wait. He smiles warmly before he closes the gap between them and then begins to kiss Kayleigh's lips enthusiastically. He's been wanting to do this all evening. He blames that red lace dress she was wearing. When he saw her stepping out of Mandy's house, onto the front doorstep in that beautiful dress earlier that evening. He swore, the world around him has stopped especially for that one perfect and glorious moment and then resumed in slow-motion, pretty much like a scene from 1980's romcom movie. As it was a rather revealing and see-through dress, John suggested she wore the festive jumper he bought her for Christmas instead. She had a rethink and headed back into the house with Mandy, so she could get changed into her favourite denim trousers from Dorothy Perkins and the jumper itself.

Things were heating up between them. Most of John's clothes were already scattered on the floor. Kayleigh was now on top of him and was currently making excellent work of caressing his chest with her hands and peppering soft kisses from his lips to his neck, along the tops of his shoulders and then finally the top of his chest. His hand reached down to the bottom of her jumper and with her nod of approval, she lifts her arms up and he pulls it up over her head and tosses the jumper on the floor.

"Kayleigh," John said breathlessly. He was extremely overwhelmed by the passion they were currently creating. He had something important he wanted to ask her.

The next morning; everyone in the house apart from Nana Rose were coping with sore heads and hangovers, while they sat around the kitchen table for breakfast. Paul looks as pale as a ghost but still shows his appetite hasn't abandoned him.

"Have you seen John and Kayleigh this morning?" Paul asks, showing no manners, talking with his mouth open while he's eating a slice of toast. Mandy is reminded of Steve doing the exact same thing back at home when he pops into the kitchen for a breakfast fry up, some mornings when he's finished tinkering with that bloody bike of his.

"I think they're still in bed Paul love. I wouldn't bother them just yet." John's mum advised him, he needn't bother calling the absent couple down for breakfast.

Suddenly all talk comes to a halt, as the Redmond family and Mandy hear loud moaning presumably coming from upstairs. "Is that our John?..." Paul asks curiously as everyone one by one glances up at the ceiling. They all thought the ceiling was going to cave in any minute, judging by how loud and thunderous John and Kayleigh were having sex right above them.

"Oh, John! Oh, John! Oh, Johnnnnnn!" It was definitely Kayleigh's screaming in pleasure all right, Mandy could tell. She struggles to keep a straight face while the rest of the breakfast clan has a half-serious look on their face.

John's mum doesn't look impressed and tries to drown out the sound of what was happening upstairs, by turning up the music on the CD player with some Kaiser Chiefs music. She does a little dance to try and distract everyone from staring up at the ceiling, it doesn't work. Paul is the first to burst out laughing followed by Mandy. John's moans were just as hilarious and entertaining to listen to as Kayleigh's. That bed will no doubt be in one epic mess once they've exhausted each other out.

As soon as the final song, 'Ruby' on the Kaiser Chiefs' CD finished, they hear footsteps coming down the stairs. John appears in the doorway, his hair is dishevelled and he looks shagged out. He says 'good morning' to everyone and then sits down at the table for breakfast. Nobody says a word as they all watch him buttering two croissants and then stuffing half a croissant in his mouth. He wasn't aware of all eyes being on him until he was wiping his mouth with a tea towel.

"What?" John asks. He's clueless as to why he's finding himself under the spotlight at that present moment. Paul's 'You jammy sod' look did feel like a bit of a clue, which he should be trying to figure out but he couldn't. His mum doesn't look best pleased with him and Mandy's got a face on her, that only be described as 'Alright Mr Loverman, don't be going wearing out my sister'. Nana Rose hasn't been paying attention to what's gone around her in the room. She's been busy doing her knitting in the living room.

"That's when I must have fallen pregnant, John. The dates match up. I'm 16 weeks pregnant." Kayleigh reckons she's right. As it was now the beginning of April, Easter, it definitely all added up.

"You haven't told anyone in work have you?" Mandy asks. She doesn't want her sister to go and blab to the likes of her gossiping work colleagues an then start

"Oh god no. I don't want to be hauled into Dave Thompson's office having to explain myself, why I think my job will still be available when I return to work after my maternity leave." She's slightly worried.

"If Dave says anything. He'll have me to answer for." John promises her he isn't going to let Dave Thompson go and upset her with a few harsh comments. Standing up for the love of his life, his pregnant girlfriend was all that mattered to him right now.

"Aww John."Kayleigh wants to serenade him with a special thank you song but Mandy silently gestures for her not to.

"So how do you plan on telling your family John?" Mandy asks him. John hasn't had much chance to think of how he would gather his family together,so he could tell Paul he was going to be an uncle and his mum she would have a third grandchild in 5 months time.

"Don't know. I don't think my mum's forgiven me and Kayleigh for leaving our room in a mess after New Year and for how we woke the neighbours up with our activities." John cheekily winks his eye. John quite frankly didn't care what the neighbours thought. Clive and Ann who lived over the road from his mum's house were right nosy neighbours. He smiles to himself remembering the appalled looks on their faces when he and Kayleigh were saying their goodbyes to Paul on the front doorstep on the night of New Year's Day. Mandy had headed home, leaving a couple of hours before them. Apparently, Alfie had dyed Steve's hair blue while he was sleeping in the bathroom.

"Well you were here for me, so I'll be here for you. Deal." Kayleigh won't take no for an answer, she insists on him allowing her to hold his hand when they go to his mum's house.

"You're the mother of my child. Of course, I want you by my side. Even if I'm not shitting myself as I'm about to tell her our news." John gives Mandy and Kayleigh the impression, his mum is an old-fashioned matriarch. Mandy can vouch for that, having witnessed Mrs Redmond's embarrassment of having her breakfast time ruined on New Year's Day morning.

"That's good of you to say." Kayleigh gives his hand a gentle squeeze.

Around 8pm, John decides he's got to head back home and catch up on some paperwork. They embrace each other, he's got his hands on her waist, holding her close and she's got her arms placed around him. They're now chatting by the car. They look equally sad because they really don't to say goodnight to one another.

"You know what I asked you on New Year's Eve. I think we should go through it. Now just feels like the right time for us. With us having a baby on the way." John tries to cheer her up by reminding her of a question he asked her 4 months ago.

"I think so too." Kayleigh agrees, managing a small smile.

"Great that's settled." John had asked her if she fancied moving in with him but she hadn't been able to give him an answer straight away. They kiss tenderly before John gets in the car. "I'll give you a ring first thing in the morning. Let you know when I can get Jim to help with picking up your stuff from here."

"Thanks. That'll be wonderful. Night John." She blows him a kiss as he's driving away.

"Night Kayleigh." John calls back to her, smiling thoughtfully to himself.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**


	3. Chapter 3

**Car Share: The Sweetest Thing**

 **Chapter 3**

Beyonce's Crazy in Love is playing on Forever FM, much to Kayleigh's delight as they're driving back to his house from work the next day. Kayleigh's singing along with Jay-Z's part of the song. She shows she's a pro knowing the moves as well as knowing the song lyrics off by heart. She's currently performing her best Voguesque hand moves and managing to amuse John who was trying to concentrate while he was driving.

"Yes  
It's so crazy right now  
Most incredibly, it's ya girl, B  
It's ya boy, young

You ready?  
Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh, no, no  
Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh, no, no  
Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh, no, no  
Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh, no, no

Yeah, history in the making  
Part two, it's so crazy right now"

"Give over will ya! I'm trying to get us through this bloody traffic here." She's already set John off laughing because of the silly hand gestures she was performing. She genuinely didn't care which nosy driver was watching her entertaining John.

"But it's Beyonce, John. I've got to do the moves haven't I? Oh, she's shamazing with her dance moves on stage. Still can't get over seeing her last year at the MEN Arena. You know what. I'd love to serenade our child with her songs. Mandy did this when she was pregnant with Chloe. She says it's a really good way of helping you connect" Kayleigh was feeling matureness for the first time since she took a pregnancy test and found out she was pregnant.

"Fair enough." John nods, agreeing with her. It was worth a try.

Kayleigh sways herself from side to side as she starts to sing along to the chorus line. She turns her head and sings it directly to John. He's touched she's openly expressing her own happiness and love for him through song.

"Got me looking so crazy right now, your love's  
Got me looking so crazy right now (in love)  
Got me looking so crazy right now, your touch  
Got me looking so crazy right now (your touch)  
Got me hoping you'll page me right now, your kiss  
Got me hoping you'll save me right now  
Looking so crazy in love's  
Got me looking, got me looking so crazy in love"

"I know it's early to think of baby name suggestions but I was thinking of having Beyonce as one. If we have a boy we can call him Harry as in Harry Styles or Richard as in Richard Marx"

"Really? Christ No! Imagine if Richard went to school on his first day at Secondary school. The teachers would probably start singing Hazard behind his back and be suspicious of him hanging around the other kids." John looks mortified at the likelihood of his son being called Richard.

"I'm only joking." Kayleigh cringes her face slightly. She soon realises it probably wasn't actually a good idea to suggest Richard as a potential name. Besides who calls their children, 'Richard' nowadays?

"Sorry I know I sound like a right miserable grump but I just think it's a bit early for us to think about names." John was worrying himself, thinking he wasn't cut out to be a father. Kayleigh could tell he was experiencing one or two nerves about this. She knew she will be helping him every step of the way just as much as he was willing to help her. "Anyway, Jim called me during my lunch break. Said him, Steve and Mandy had a struggle getting your disco ball and novelty heart lamp into the same box as each other."

"I hope he didn't break them," Kayleigh asks.

"No, he said your Mandy decided to wrap the two up in bubble wrap. She made sure he put them in separate boxes."

"You know I'm really going to miss living with Our Mandy and her family. I know I only had the box room to sleep in for the last couple of months but while I was living in her house, I loved helping Chloe out with her school homework and telling Alfie off when Mandy's been late home from work." Kayleigh reveals her motherly instincts were clear to see, months before she and John conceived their first child.

"I know it feels difficult to move out of a family home. I felt the same when I moved out of the family house. Around the time I moved into the house have I now, which I first moved into with Charlotte. When I and Charlotte split up, she let me keep the house and moved out. Can't believe that was only three years ago. It was heartbreaking when she left. I never thought I'd find love again. So I gave up altogether. Lasted 3 years to the day. The very day last June when you and me started car sharing and you ended up throwing piss over me."

"I said I was sorry, didn't I?" Kayleigh shook her head followed by a snickering laugh. She's surprised to learn that she's forgotten how many occasions he's reminded her now, of that fateful first day of Car Sharing.

The couple knew these were sad memories, to find themselves reflecting on during their conversation, in the middle of one of the happiest periods in their lives but now honestly felt as if it was the perfect timing to do so. Once they had finished telling their stories, John and Kayleigh were now looking ahead together to what the future held for them as a family. As they pull up alongside the curb outside his house. John sees that Jim is still there. He's having a crafty fag.

"Christ Jim's still here. I keep telling him to lay off the cigarettes and what does he do, ignores me. Kayleigh, stay in the car, I'll only be a few minutes."

"Why?" Kayleigh is completely baffled as to why John requested for her to remain in the car in his absence. She's got a spare key for the house, wouldn't it be better if she let herself into the house and put her feet up. She was following Mandy's advice, which she told her last night, Kayleigh has to take things easy even at this early stage of her pregnancy.

"Well, you can't be around someone who smokes, can you. I mean it's not good for yours and your baby's health is it." John was doing what he thought was right. He's known since his dad died from passive smoking how harmful and life-threatening it could be to someone's life. So he wants to do the right thing by protecting Kayleigh and their unborn child as much as he can.

Kayleigh tilts her head, she's admiring him fondly. He's being incredibly sweet for the effort he's making, wanting to make her feel welcome, make her know that he wants his home to be her home and that he's giving her the opportunity to decide on how she wants to turn the spare room in his house into a nursery room.

"What did I do to deserve you eh?" Kayleigh asks herself. She thought she was bound to drive John up the wall once she moved into his house. She wasn't sure what to expect over the next couple of months however one thing was for sure, her lady time would be rocketing the roof with more ups and downs than an X Factor novelty song.

"Throwing piss over me and spraying me shirt with a £50 bottle of perfume for a start."

"Shut up you." She had the perfect comeback line to match his.

John beams with joy as he's getting out of the car and starts walking over to Jim. "This is a bit quick, isn't it? You moving in with Kayleigh."

"Bollocks. Jim, me and Kayleigh have been courting for 8 months. Plus we're having our first child together, of course, it isn't quick. Anyway, how do you get on with putting Kayleigh's stuff in your van?" John asks. He hopes for his and Kayleigh's sake, Jim hasn't driven his van over one too many speed bumps, causing her stuff to tumble out of the packed boxes.

"Piece of cake. Does she really own 26 pairs of shoes and 10 slippers?" Jim calmly reassures his friend, all items had been carefully delivered to John's house. The only downside was Jim getting fed up of waiting around and therefore sneakily checking out the boxes of shoes Kayleigh had packed.

"Yes. You know you've got no right to look at her personal stuff. You're right nosy sod you are Jim." It was always in Jim's character, to be a right nosy idiot and a dickhead when he wanted to be. John had to bail him out once or twice when he got a slap in the face from two women he was trying to flirt with, after one of their Compendium's gigs.

"Alright...alright I know. I swear I only had a sneak peek. I was only curious to see how expensive they looked." Jim proceeds to protest by sticking his hands up slightly in the air.

"I bloody hope that was all." John shot him a disapproving look. They leave things there. The two friends soon start lifting and removing the last of the stuff out of the van. Kayleigh gets out the car, closing the door behind her and walks towards them. She's wondering why on earth the two were taking so long to get the last of her boxes inside the house.

"Hiya Jim. Be careful with my novelty heart lamp and watch where you're going with it." From the looks of things, Kayleigh has begun to pick up one or two norms from John where health and safety were concerned. She made herself out to be a proper bossy mare. Clearly, her lady time, mood swings were playing havoc. Jim and John turn and face each other, pissing themselves laughing.

"I'm serious. What's so funny?" Kayleigh asks, with her hands placed on her hips. Following them in through the front door of John's house.

"Sorry, Kayleigh. Jim apologise right this instant." John is laughing so much, that he can't even think straight as he and Jim put the box containing her novelty heart lamp in the hallway.

Jim wipes his tears of laughter away from his eyes with his thumbs. He manages to calm down, as does John. Both men realise it's not a good idea to make a fool of yourself. John's sensible enough to know this but sometimes finds himself getting led astray by Jim's antics on one or two occasions.

"It's the way you said it, Kayleigh. Sorry if I'm behaving like a right arsehole in front of you. You're my mate's girlfriend and I know you've made the happiest he's ever felt since me and him started writing songs together. I'd hate for us to get off on the wrong foot." Jim surprises John and Kayleigh with the sincereness in his apology. All he wants is to see his best friend have that great big soppy smile of his plastered on his face every day, feeling he had nothing to feel embarrassed about and of course he wants to see him concentrate on his new family rather than work.

"I never realised I was such a bossy mare. Our Mandy's influence rubbing off me" Kayleigh believes this to be the reason.

 **xxx**

Once they finally got the house to themselves, after Jim had overstayed his welcome by an hour, John and Kayleigh were now getting comfortable on his vanilla coloured sofa in the living room. They were sat curled up, with John's arm placed on her back and Kayleigh's hand placed on his thigh, as they were catching up on watching the latest Poldark episode on IPlayer. John's promised to cook them a nice meal after they've watched this episode.

"So have you spoken to your mum today? What did she say?" As he hadn't said a word to her. She thought perhaps John was feeling just as nervous and anxious as she felt before she plucked up the courage to tell Mandy yesterday.

"Yeah, I called her first this morning. Told her I've got some news and me and you would come up to the house tomorrow morning. Hope you don't mind us going up there tomorrow. You know I think there's a chance she might be asking herself, when should I start buying a wedding hat." Kayleigh was right to think John might be feeling one or two nerves about telling his mum, he honestly was.

"Yes it's not a problem but it does feel a bit quick though isn't it?" Kayleigh questions the timing of John choosing to tell his mum and Paul. She thought he might leave it another day at least because he's told her, he likes to drive up to his mum's and have his Sunday dinner there every fortnight.

"I know but we've gotta get this over and done with, haven't we? telling our families." John feels it's better to get whatever you have to say off your chest as soon as you can. Your family knows you best. Nothing ever stays quiet with them for roughly more than five minutes, Kayleigh herself knows this far too well.

"You ended up telling Jim before your mum." Kayleigh reminds him. John told her on the phone this morning, Jim was singing an acoustic version of Justin Bieber's 'Baby' down to the phone to him last night, once he guessed what John was harping on about.

"Technically I didn't tell him. He just worked it out himself. Wish I hadn't opened my gob. Me mum's always been quick to jump to conclusions when I've said on the phone before, that I've got some news."

"Can't wait to talk to Rose. Aww, she's lovely your Nana. I love to know how she's doing with her knitting." Kayleigh and Rose had gotten on so well the first time they met after John had introduced Kayleigh to the family. Rose was asking how they met and then she was sharing one story with Kayleigh about the time young John tried to get the attention of his first crush 'young Caroline from No.36, whose parents were James, a police constable and Karen, a primary school teacher'. John was helpless to stop his Nana from telling Kayleigh, Caroline ended up kissing one of his school friends' at the time instead.

They turn their focus back to watching Poldark. Kayleigh's glued to the screen everytime Aidan Turner appears in a scene which John's quick on the ball at acknowledge. This aspect of their relationship feels totally perfect and satisfying. The feeling of not being able to stay apart for even one night was clear from the very moment John blurted out that he loved her in the middle of

"Oh Aye, picturing me as Poldark off the telly are you?" John can tell she's having one of her fantasies. He expects this won't be the only one. Knowing Kayleigh she'll be having one every day, what with her undergoing the strangest, sexiest and funniest of pregnancy symptoms.

"You betcha." Kayleigh winks her left eye and grins wickedly.

John places his hand on her bump and gently caresses it back and forth. Kayleigh loves seeing this protective and caring side that he reserves especially for her. She knows he'd be too embarrassed and unwilling to portray this side to him while he might be, say reprimanding Elsie for dipping her hands where they shouldn't be, probably from helping herself to a handful of Strawberry Tarts when Terry and Kenny from Security were on their lunch breaks.

"I love Poldark. Urgh!" Kayleigh rolls her eyes and huffs, she's certainly implying there's something within the show she doesn't like. John's rather surprised. She had led him to believe Poldark was her favourite show on telly. "Can't stand Slimy George though."

"Slimy George? I don't remember there being a character in this being called by that name." John has never watched many episodes of Poldark but seeing as tonight was the first night the two of them as a couple living together, John had suddenly thought 'Bollocks to my rules' and so with that being said, he had decided to make an exception especially for her. He knows he's heard of a character called George Warleggan in this drama series.

"No...no it's a nickname. It's the snob who hates Ross and who wants to marry Elizabeth, Ross' ex." Kayleigh explains who she means. John nods and smiles. He loves how she's so good at making stuff sound so easy for him to understand.

"Ah, so I see. So is Aidan Turner your tv crush then? We've all got one, even I've got one." John tries to encourage her to open up regarding her likes and dislikes of tv actors and actresses. All he had known was that Kayleigh loved curling up to watching Sunday night tv dramas and comedies and of course catching up on the soaps.

"Anyone, I know?" Kayleigh pretends she doesn't care whoever the lucky female celebrity personality is. "You can tell me, Jonathan." She says with a hint of cheekiness.

"You're a right cheeky bitch, you know that," John says. He only means this lightheartedly. He knows she'll soon cotton on to the fact he isn't offending her.

"Jonathan! That's no way to call your girlfriend and the woman who's carrying your child, a cheeky bitch." Kayleigh cleverly feigned shock and surprise in a bid to get him to admit which tv personality it is.

"Alright if you want to know who it is..." John takes a deep breath, he's never told anyone not even Paul, who some of his celebrity crushes are on tv.

"Stop keeping me in suspenders, John. Honestly, this feels like I'm waiting for the Britain's Got Talent Winner to be announced here." Kayleigh was being impatient. John didn't keep her waiting long after her comment.

"Keeley Hawes"

"Keeley who?" Kayleigh is unsurprisingly a bt slow on the uptake with realising who this well known actress is.

"Christ all that pausing for nothing. She's been in a lot of tv dramas Spooks, Ashes to Ashes, Tipping the Velvet... " Despite his earlier blushing before he came clean, John was now desperate to laugh his arse off because Kayleigh hasn't the foggiest idea who Keeley Hawes is.

"Hang fire." She says suddenly. Perhaps Kayleigh's miraculously figured it out, well it certainly would explain 'the Eureka' moment she was currently having. "Is she the actress who is in Pirates of the Carribean flms?" In a case of mistaken identity, Kayleigh thinks she knows that Keeley stars in those films.

"No that's Keira Knightley." John happily corrects her and then gives into a belly ache of laughter. Kayleigh shook her head and then felt deserved a playful slap on the thigh, a slap that John reacted to with the most delightful of sounds.

 **xxx**

A little while later, John is holding the fort in the kitchen and he's busy giving the likes of Jamie Oliver an Gordon Ramsay a run for their money. Kayleigh is watching on in awe at his excellent culinary skills.

"If I'd known you were this skilful in the kitchen, the minute we officially became a couple, I would have requested you make the most romantic meal ever." Kayleigh makes a very good point. She regrets not asking him to cook for her whenever she stayed the night at his house. The last few times she stayed over at his, they had chosen to order takeaway meals.

"Wanted to surprise you didn't I. There are still things about me you're yet to learn Kayleigh. I'd like to keep them under wraps for the time being. Don't want to ruin any surprises." John said with a poker face. He's keeping tight-lipped and saying nowt more on this matter.

"Ooh, Mister Secretive... get you." Kayleigh said with a slightly high pitched voice.

"Keep your voice down will ya. You never know, Ian and Margaret might be eavesdropping on us from next door. I haven't told them that you've moved with me. Knowing them they'll be eager to present with you 'welcome to your new home' presents." John gave her the heads up that she should be careful and watch out for any knocks at the letterbox or calls over the garden fence from Ian on Margaret's behalf.

"So. Let them hear us behaving like every happy couple does." Kayleigh clearly doesn't give a shit nor she does mind receiving presents from her new neighbours.

John loves her using this simple term to describe them. She's so thoughtful and obliging when she speaks highly of them as a couple. He feels extremely lucky to have found her in the most pleasant and loveliest of ways possible - on the front seat of his car where no nosy bastard could witness him and her slowly beginning to fall in love with each other. Even after 8 months of courting, Kayleigh's still bedazzling him and making his days feel like the greatest he's ever encountered.

"I'll ask them to come over one night. They're really nice Ian and Margaret. You'll love Margaret's stories about anything to do with the 1970s" His neighbours had seen Kayleigh once or twice, on both occasions it happened to be first thing in the morning when they were wearing their work clothes but neither Ian not Margaret had actually introduced themselves to her.

So a double dinner date should do the trick, nothing too fancy though. He doesn't want to pile any pressure on Kayleigh over whether or not she would like to blend in with the neighbours in the street straight away. John's street was a close-knitted one and one that regularly came together when they thought the council weren't making enough effort to make the community safe for the elderly at nighttime.

"Aww, I'd love to meet them. Have they got a dog?" Kayleigh asks.

"Yeah, they've got a Border Collie, Buttons. Oh Aye, don't tell me you looking for a playmate for Misty. You're hoping Ian and Margaret's dog will hit it off with yours, aren't ya?"

"Maybe," Kayleigh smirks, as she steadily twists and turns on the stool at the kitchen table.

"Hey, careful on that." John turns and faces her. He says this because obviously, he doesn't want Kayleigh having an accident.

"I'm sorry. I guess my legs must be restless. I'll go and put my feet up in the living room, shall I. While you wait for the potato wedges to be done in the pan." Kayleigh gave him a kiss on the cheek before leaving him alone, so he can make a start on the last food for their meal.

She sees three family framed photos placed on the wooden mantlepiece. Kayleigh picks the largest one up and has a closer look at it. The photo is of John, his Mum, Paul and his dad at a family. His dad has black, greyish hair and he had a similar smile like John's in this photo. John looks adorable in his navy blue polo shirt. The photo must have been taken at least between 5-10 years ago, probably before he met Charlotte.

"Caught ya, red-handed!" John says, sneaking up behind her. He makes her jump but she manages not to drop the framed photo.

"This is a lovely photo of your dad," Kayleigh says, holding out the photo to him.

"Yeah, it was taken at my Auntie Maureen's house around Easter time. She took the picture for us. We had a Christmas photo taken that year as well. Think Paul's got the photo on his mantlepiece at his house. Dad gave it to him before he died. I got this one, means a lot to me." John tells her as he takes hold of the photo and returns it back to the mantlepiece with the other two photos. One of which was a photo of Ben and Sophie with their Uncle John taken during the Monster Trucks event last Summer.

"Aww. I bet he would have been happy for you, your dad. You becoming a father yourself for the first time." John nods agreeing with her.

"I think Logan or Hugh, you know as is in Hugh Jackman, that is a good name for a boy" Kayleigh smiles and holds his hand supportively as they gaze at the family photo.

"Dad don't listen to her. She's only joking with that name." She knows she shouldn't but Kayleigh finds it hilarious to see John talking directly to the photo.

"What? What's wrong with Hugh Redmond-Kitson? Hey, he could even be a reality star on Made in Chelsea you know." Kayleigh's head isn't entirely in the game with what John's telling her dad. She's clearly got her head in the clouds.

"Eh, what's that dad? You think she's being a right smart-arse at this name generator business." John places three fingers behind his ear and pretends he's heard a reply from his dad.

"John!" She gasps outraged by his cheeky comment. She too is pretending. She knows her man too well now to know he doesn't intentionally mean whatever he's said.

"I'm joking." John finds himself chuckling in a bright and joyful mood. He's learning a hell of a lot of lessons from her mostly when joking around has a lot to do with it.

"You better had be or you're in for a surprise Mister when we get into our bed tonight." Kayleigh giggles cutely, as she watches him returning to the kitchen and while she's at it, she took a few short moments to appreciatively check out his bum. She was starting to accept, being pregnant did make you fancy your partner on a different level.

 **xxx**

The grilled chicken and potato wedges meal which John had rustled up for them was absolutely delicious. Kayleigh had pretty much given him the thumbs up within five minutes of tasting the meal.

"You should cook more often John. You're really good." Kayleigh uses her persuasive powers to convince him to give home cooking a try for at least three or four times a week.

"Get out of it." John's face turns a cherry colour due to his blushing.

"No, I won't get out of it, for your information, Jonathan," Kayleigh said with a humorous tone in her voice. She had more than proved she had plenty of tricks up her sleeve with this teasing malarky of hers. They were a match made in heaven for each other, Mandy herself had told the pair after Kayleigh introduced him to her. She saw the good, gentleman-like and caring side of him, taking hold of her sister's hand and placing a kiss across her fingers. Yes, Kayleigh had finally found the man of her dreams at long last, that she was completely convinced of.

She expects John to say something back. Suggesting to her she's behaving like a right cobby mare/bitch or stressfully ask her how long each of her mood swings will last. The twinkle in his eyes suggested otherwise. She knows them moving in together would no doubt take time for them to get their heads around. But the fact still remained the two of them couldn't bear to be in different houses from each other for just a matter of hours let alone minutes.

"John can we call it a night." Kayleigh asks. John knows there's no need to ask why she doesn't want a late nighter in front of the tv.

"We might as well. We can listen to your playlist on your smartphone." John is definitely up for chilling out, listening to a few songs as he cuddles Kayleigh in his arms.

"Yeah...I'd love that. I just want to lay back in bed with you, let you cradle my bump and while we relax to One Direction's greatest hits." Kayleigh sighs dreamily.

John shakes his head. He hasn't told her he isn't a fan of One Direction's music. Nevertheless, as it was her first night in her new home, he thought she deserves to listen to her favourite music.

"Come on then Mr Cutie-Face, lead the way." Kayleigh's nicknames are coming thick and fast for him. God knows what the next nickname will be that she gives him.

"Mr Cutie-Face?" John repeats her nickname for him by mouthing it questioningly to himself. Kayleigh hurries past him while he's stood in the hallway thinking.

"Oh oh too slow..." She giggled, toying with him. She leads the way up the stairs, John follows behind her, holding onto her hand. When they get to the door of John's bedroom, they embrace with a loving kiss. Kayleigh's free hand cups itself around his jawline. Their kisses in the space of the last 8 months had grown from nervous to full of promise to confident/affectionate/ardent.

Kayleigh pulls away and then decides to drag him into the room. John grins knowingly. The look in her eyes suggests she's got more on her mind than listening to One Direction.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**


	4. Chapter 4

**Car Share: The Sweetest Thing**

 **Chapter 4**

John hadn't bothered to set the alarm clock that next morning because he planned on spending some precious extra minutes in bed with Kayleigh. He laid there topless, a happy and adored man. He couldn't wipe the silly widened grin he had off his face. Well, who could blame him really when he had the love of a woman like Kayleigh Kitson. John couldn't take his eyes off her, lovingly watching her as she slept next to him looking as beautiful in sleep as she did when she was awake. Oh, 'how he could get used to this fantastic sight every morning from now on,' he tells himself. John wanted to stir her from her sleep and give her a morning kiss but thought he should leave it another five minutes before doing so.

John didn't have long to wait for her to wake from her blissful slumber state.

"Morning..." Kayleigh sleepily smiles at him.

"Morning..." John smiles back.

Kayleigh shifted closer towards him in bed, closing the gap between her and John. She propped herself up with her arm so she can talk to him directly. All she can remember about last night was that she and John were snuggling in bed and then the next minute they were ripping each other's clothes off before diving into that intoxicating feel of rediscovering one another all over again. She giggles on remembering that John had to shush her 20 times during their latest lovemaking because the sound of her voice was louder than a singer performing on stage at Glastonbury.

"What's so funny?" John asks.

"Oh, John. I'm so sorry for screaming the foundations of your house down last night. Once I start, I can't stop myself. Thank goodness Misty isn't here. She'd have bitten you on the bum because she'll probably think you're attacking or something." Kayleigh feels so shamed-faced.

"You've got nothing to feel ashamed about, Kayleigh. You love me and I love you, that's nothing to feel embarrassed about especially when you express your love." John told her as he stroked both her cheeks back and forth with his left hand.

"Aww, thanks for being so understanding John." She rewards with him by planting a kiss on the tip of his nose.

"Ahem, my lips are here and not up here." John chuckles. He thought she was deliberately being cheeky in a bid to wind him up.

"Oh sorry. Like you said." She works her magic on him, casting a spell which he soon falls under, the moment he begins to follow her lead as she moves closer to him, so she can kiss those delightful lips of his. When she does it feels as if they were recapturing the magic of their very first kiss which they shared the day he walked her to the tram station after the hedgehog incident and the bastard who ripped the door off the Fiat. He couldn't bear to let go of her hand as she was getting onto the tram and so he surprised her with a dreamy kiss. It was extremely romantic.

She held his face in her hands. The way in which she kisses him is tender and glorious. It was a kiss worth treasuring amongst the countless kisses they'd happily shared over the last 8 months. John pulls away first with his hand still softly stroking her cheek.

"Well, that was the kind of morning kiss, that I want you to wake me up every morning." John hints, grinning away.

"I wouldn't wish for too much if I was you. Who knows I might decide to give you a lovebite instead" Kayleigh teases, winking her eye at him flirtatiously.

"Kayleigh Kitson you absolute saucy rebel." John laughs. She's given him one or two lovebites since they officially become a couple and boy were they visible for everyone at work to see. John had to adjust his shirt collar to conceal the lovebite she had given him on both occasions. The likes of Cath Hilton and Alan Campbell obviously weren't fooled by John's attempts. In actual fact, it had made their day a little less unbearable and given them a good old chuckle.

"That I so am." She agrees with him. Their closeness is cut short by the sound of a rumbling stomach, John's very hungry stomach as a matter of fact. With the roles reversed John is now the one to feel shamefaced. Kayleigh finds the sight of him looking embarrassed rather cute.

"Righty O, I'll cook us some breakfast, shall I? You're off duty breakfast cooking duties until tomorrow, John." Kayleigh pushes the duvet off her and slowly climbs out of bed. John watches her and gets a very lovely view of Cagney and Lacey in all their glory, as the sun from outside brightens up the bedroom. She catches him getting quite an eyeful. "John! What I have said about you looking at my muffin top."

"Yer what?" John still hadn't the faintest of ideas what she meant by her muffin top.

"Lady things John. Lady things." Kayleigh mutters to herself. As she searches the room for her bra. She's hope John hasn't somehow tossed it out the window without looking and one of his neighbours will get a rude awakening after finding it in their garden.

She eventually finds her bra behind the back of the portable tv in the corner of the room. John still hasn't made any single attempt at leaving the bed. Kayleigh thinks she knows a way of luring him out of bed.

"What you doing now?" John smiles, watching her put her bra on but he sees that she doesn't make any effort to fasten it.

"Well I was thinking of using that shower of yours, you're more than welcome to come and join me if you want to." Kayleigh turns on the seductive charm. John isn't one to turn down a tempting offer and so he surprises her by leapfrogging out of the bed as if he had been expecting her to give him the red light all along.

"I'd be a bloody idiot not to. Come then Lady Kayleigh you best get wriggle on in there before Little John wakes up." John is desperate to share the shower with Kayleigh, now she's mentioned this.

"Little John? Oh god, you call your penis Little John?" Kayleigh asks. She's suddenly in hysterics at John's nickname.

"Come on get yourself in there you." John tries not to laugh at his own comment while he is busy ushering her into the bathroom. Before he closes the door, he pushes his black boxer shorts down and kicks them off in one quick move much to Kayleigh's delight as she watches on.

"If I'd have known you had such talented Chippendale stripping skills, I would have made my move on you sooner." Kayleigh does often wish they hadn't tiptoed around their feelings after they first began Car Sharing together.

"Ever the Eager Beaver you are." John knows her well enough to know she's as eager as they come.

Kayleigh's already ahead of him, having turned the shower tap on and is now luring him towards her with her finger.

 **xxx**

They got through breakfast within 30 minutes or so. John had helped himself to a bowl of Kellogg's Corn Flakes and Kayleigh had opted for two slices of jam on toast. Being pregnant didn't half make you feel hungry all the time. She knows she will have to try and adapt to this food craving feeling for the next 5 months of her pregnancy. She thinks John had better watch as she might eat most of the food content inside his was a few dairy products she had her eye on.

Today they had a 20-mile journey up to John's mum's house in Chorley. Kayleigh wonders what the rest of the day will bring, once John has told his mum she's going to become a grandmother again. No doubt, a lot of hugging and wishes of congratulations from John's family to the happy couple.

John waited for her on the front doorstep and was checking his watch every five minutes. She said she wanted to do her hair in the mirror in the hallway. She had taken 15 minutes so far to complete this task. Soon as she emerged and greeted John, her hair looks as though she had been working on another Carol Decker hairstyle.

"What?" Kayleigh quickly acknowledges John's standing there with a stunned look on his face. Why was he looking so shocked about? She was about to find out the reason for this.

"Did you do your hair blindfolded? See for yourself in the mirror, Carol Decker 2.0." John asks. They were meant to be at his mum's house for 11 and it was now 9:35.

Kayleigh goes back into the house and does a quick check in the mirror. "Oh, balls. Must be that new hairspray I bought." She looks a bit embarrassed now. John was absolutely right, she does look like Carol Decker 2.0.

"What's the hairspray called?" John wonders if it's the same hairspray he overheard Elsie at work complaining about the other week. Apparently, her hair had turned into a fine mess. The lads from the warehouse were comparing her to that Fellaini fella who plays for Manchester United.

"Swish Swash," Kayleigh confirms as she rejoins him outside of the house. John's not surprised, that hair product looks bloody cheap. She slides into the front passenger seat and John heads around to the driver's side of the Audi and gets in.

"What's your mum going to think of me looking like this?"

"Mum said she thinks the world of you. She's not going to think any different of you, you know." John reassures her, holding her hand in his and kisses her on the cheek.

"She'll have a laugh about it though won't she." Kayleigh feels automatically reassured by John. She appreciates how he always knows how to use the right words to help put her mind at ease especially when there have been times where something or certain colleagues have stressed her out at work/tried to ruin her day.

"Course she will. You can do your hair in the car if you want." John suggests. A quick redoing and her hair should look as perfect and fabulous as ever.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Kayleigh isn't so sure especially if John's got the windows open for fresh air on the drive up to Chorley.

"Yeah. It's not a bother." John doesn't see any problem with her redoing her hair in the car. Kayleigh gets her hairbrush and cordless tongs for her hair. She manages to surprise John with her bag for life which must have had more than just these two items in it.

Kayleigh starts to sort the messy parts of her hair while John is sending a text to his mum, telling her, he and Kayleigh should be up at her house by 11:15 or 11:20 at the latest. He wanted to get a few bits in from the store first on the way.

His mum sent a text back, saying he doesn't need to, Paul had done a Click and Collect at Asda on his way home from work last night. "Cheeky sod," John thought. He'll be having words with him when he sees him at the house later this morning. John connects the phone to the car via it's Bluetooth plugin.

Ten minutes later, Kayleigh's finishes her hair which is looking neater and bouncier. She puts away her hair products and then sits back in her seat with her seatbelt fastened over her.

"So what do ya think?" Kayleigh asks as she glances across at John. Flaunting her very familiar hairstyle with the help of her hands.

"You look proper fantastic. Knocking me for six you are." John gives an overwhelming verdict. He's expecting her to plant a smacker on his lips.

"Aww, am I?" Kayleigh's touched. John is a more of a romantic person than he considers himself to be. She can tell he's just too shy to admit it.

"Yeah." John smiles contentedly.

"Come here you." Kayleigh grabs hold of him, pulling him towards for a kiss. She hasn't even given him the chance to start the car yet!

"Eh give over woman! Neighbours might see us" John is blushing terribly much to Kayleigh's visible enjoyment. John gave up resisting her because she was too enticing to ignore. He slid into her embrace, welcoming the warmth of her lips as they captured his. Their kiss was slow and sensual. Kayleigh nipped his bottom lip. John was a goner for when she did one of her cheeky actions during their kisses. Things were turning heated and passionate between the pair, Kayleigh's seat nearly collapsed back as John had been half sprawled across her. John pulled away much to Kayleigh's disappointment but that wasn't his way of saying he hadn't enjoyed their kiss.

"Party Pooper." Kayleigh sighs being denied longer contact with him. She can't help herself, then again she never has been able to help herself, where John was concerned.

"Look we should have left 20 minutes ago. Listen, Kayleigh, we'll make up for it I promise. We just have to make sure my mum and Our Paul don't hear us out moaning each other upstairs in my old bedroom." John says. He knows quite well he doesn't mean to upset or frustrate her. What with her raging hormones being difficult to keep under control and making her look like she's seen the Fifty Shades of Grey movie at least 50 times, John is just doing what every father-to-be would do, making sure everytime they made love it wasn't too physical and that they should give some in between when they longed to express their love.

"Oh alright. I trust you, Jonathan. Right now fire up the petrol-fueled car of yours...sorry diesel I mean diesel." Kayleigh tries to correct her slip up but it doesn't go as well as she presumed it would.

"Unbelievable." John's crying with laughter, as if he has just conveniently shared a personal joke with himself.

"What?!" Kayleigh answers back with a squeaky tone in her voice.

"8 months later and you're still calling it petrol," John proceeds to tell her the reason as to why he has got tears of laughter rolling down either both his cheeks. They've had this same amusing conversation throughout the time of their relationship as well as the time where his beloved Fiat 500 needed filling up at the petrol station. He wipes a couple of fresh tears away with his right thumb.

"John, you know I can't help myself, forgetting which one is which. You might as well stamp diesel on my hand from now on eh." Kayleigh wishes she could learn a proper way of stopping herself from putting her foot in it forthwith.

"Yeah, I suppose I better had in future. At least you managed to get my band name right" John thought to remind her, she had successfully pronounced 'Compendium' right after she and Mandy had driven up to attend John and Jim's gig in Fleetwood.

They turn to face one another and it takes a matter of seconds before their straight-like faces manage to give way to howls of laughter. John comes to his senses, knowing he has still got a schedule to stick to that morning. "We best get a proper wriggle on now. Otherwise, my mum will think we've gone up to Gretna Green and eloped there."

They're soon heading off out on the road together, bound for Chorley. Before they had the opportunity of leaving, they were greeted by the wonderful sights of the local area passing them by over the next couple of minutes or so while John was driving the Audi.

 **xxx**

Kayleigh had kept her hand on her bump throughout the car journey. By the time they arrived in Bolton, Kayleigh was now currently practising breathing technique exercises. John had to ask her why she was doing these.

"Don't tell me. You're doing these breathing exercises because you think my mum's gonna get carried away with telling you what baby clothes to buy. She did with Our Paul when he told her she was gonna become a grandmother for the second time. Dragged him round the shops she did the very next day. She and Paul were in Mothercare for almost an hour at one point."

"Poor Paul. He must have been knackered. No, Our Mandy says it's a great way of relaxing your mind, your mood, your 'lady parts'." Kayleigh tells him.

John's face pulls into a self-conscious cringe. Does Kayleigh honestly need to keep mentioning those two words?

Kayleigh could see the discomfort in his face. John did pull the funniest of faces whenever she thought to mention her 'lady things'. Perhaps it was better if she tried to not mention them much anymore even during the hospital trips they would have to make for her baby scan/check-ups.

"Sorry." She feels she ought to apologise.

"Eh?" John asks. His driving duties were preventing him from concentrating properly.

You know, for me making you feel uncomfortable about my you-know-what." She silently gestures with her eyes as to where and what she means. John does a quick glance before returning his focus to the traffic building up on the road. "It just kind of slips out you know...oh balls" Kayleigh acknowledges that she isn't helping her case. She's making things sound hilariously worse for herself.

"I'll stop shall I? I mean look at my face, I blushing here like a shiny tomato." Kayleigh tells him. _John's probably laughing on the_ i _nside. He's got a great poker face I'll give him that._

"I can't say I'm bloody surprised," John says, grinning sneakily. She responds by giving him a cheeky shove in the shoulder. "Oww, that's my driving arm that." John couldn't touch the arm yet what with him sticking to his driving duties.

"Oh shut up you girl." It was left to Kayleigh for a change, to tell him to stop behaving like a girl. "Would you like me to kiss it better for you?" She offers a predictable yet quirky solution.

"Well, I'll have to think about that, won't I?..." John purposely pretends he's unsure of what answer to give her. He knows how she can easily get annoyed by his attempts to make her think differently. "I'm only bloody joking. Honestly your face..." He confirms but doesn't laugh this time. Most surprising of all she willingly lets him off on this occasion but that wasn't to say she won't in future.

 **xxx**

Chorley was now a matter of 5 miles away according to the signposts. Kayleigh has grown fond of the sights and scenery of this beautiful place whenever John drives them both up to his mum's house every fortnight.

"Oi Daydreamer Believer. They're playing your song on the radio." getting her attention, John shouts to her but is careful not to raise his voice.

"What? Oh sorry, I was miles away." Kayleigh tells him. John wonders whether she's dreaming about what career path their son or daughter will take when they're older or she's having a hunk-filled daydream.

"Oh Aye. Dreaming of Ted 3 might have looked like last year if he wasn't a greasy haired, bad at Karaoke 'I fancy anyone' bloke like the one we've got now working at the store."

"Oh no," Kayleigh shakes her head dismissively. "Can't see Dave 'Knobhead' Thompson getting any young blokes pushing the trollies at our store anytime soon. I mean Barry's a lovely bloke and he likes taking the piss out of himself for the way he sings but to be fair Dave's not letting any fit blokes work in the car park is bang out of order...let's face it there should be one pushing the trollies around every store car park. I'd like to see that happening."

"I am here you know." John reminds her. He knows she's cheekily trying to make him feel jealous with this 'fit blokes' talk. Kayleigh can't control her laughter, the very moment she sees a look of 'please tell me you're joking?' etched across his face.

"You are so cute when you have a jealous look on your face. Of course, I'm joking John. George Clooney and Ryan Reynolds have got nothing on you, Jonathan." Kayleigh makes it clear that the only man she loves and wants her in life right now is John.

They finally arrive at John's mum's house at around 11:25. His mum's house is semi-detached. It has plenty of space in the driveway for up two cars. Paul's car was a Silver BMW. Normally his bloody car would take up most of the room in the driveway, which didn't half annoy John. They pull up on the driveway and John gets out first, he wants to help Kayleigh get out the car but she thinks this small gesture might accidentally give away their news.

"Are you sure you're okay?" John asks. He's still standing there being the extremely caring and protective John he's always been since they officially got together. He takes a step back as she closes the door behind her and strolls over to him. He holds his right hand out to him.

"Honestly John, you make me feel like I'm 8 months pregnant, not 4." Kayleigh giggles. She happily takes his hand, squeezing it supportively and then allows him to lead her onward to the front doorstep. Telling his mum their wonderful news was going to be a huge step for him. Telling his parents about his engagement to Charlotte four years ago was a big deal but this felt an even bigger deal for him. This news he was immensely happy to share with his mum and Paul.

John knocks on the letterbox and his mum opens the door straight away. She makes it looks as though she had been rehearsing this all morning.

"Morning love. Come, come in you two. I've just baked a lovely Apple pie. I'd love you to try it, John." John's mum ushers them into the house before the neighbours could have a sneaky nose from their living room windows. Since John told her over the phone, he and Kayleigh would be coming up to the house. She couldn't help but wonder if this visit was going to be more than an occasional visit. She was clever enough to know when either Paul or John had news to tell her and today felt like one of those days.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**


	5. Chapter 5

**Car Share: The Sweetest Thing**

 **Chapter 5**

John is pacing back and forth around the living room nervously while his Mum's checking on the Apple Pie in the kitchen. "So is Paul is coming up here anytime today?" He asks her. John feels his family should all find out together. At least Nana Rose was there. She was currently having one of her late morning sleep in the armchair in the living room.

"Oh, Paul's taken Ben and Sophie to the cinema to see a film. I don't think he'll be up here until later love. So what brings you and Kayleigh up here?" His mum's ever so curious to know the real reason for them coming to see her.

John and Kayleigh both glance over at each other. The couple looks visibly surprised to find themselves being put in the spotlight sooner than they thought they would be. Kayleigh instantly bombards him with a few strange hand gestures when trying to make him answer his mum's question. The only one he recognises is a _'Don't make me kick your arse if you don't tell your mum.'_ When he takes far too long to answer, Kayleigh steps up to the plate by addressing John's mum.

"Barbara, me and John, we've got some news to share with you," Kayleigh tells her. fails to appear from the kitchen doorway. Her slippers could be heard squeaking along the kitchen floor every few seconds. John could tell the floor had recently been mopped and some of the kitchen items had been rearranged on the counter. Come to think the living room looked as though it had a last-minute spring clean look about it.

"Just give me a minute Kayleigh love. I'll be right in." Barbara obviously hasn't heard all of what she said properly or so they thought. Barbara smiled, she had absolutely heard everything, it was just that she was now casually waiting for the right moment to show her face in the living room and put on her best poker face.

"Mum I'll try the pie later. Me and Kayleigh need to talk to you." John says. He can't help feeling a bit suspicious. Was his mum already secretly on their case and intentionally stalling just so he or Kayleigh could blurt the truth out there and then or was she going to come straight out and ask them if they're getting engaged ot having a baby together.

"Alright...alright, I'm coming. Hold your horses." She reappears in the living room and takes a seat on the other armchair. John and Kayleigh are now sitting next to each other. John's got his hand placed on Kayleigh's lower back and she's returning the favour by holding his hand reassuringly. "So what do you want to tell me?" John briefly glances over at the photo frame on the mantlepiece which is a photo of his father, as a sign of drawing encouragement before returning his focus back to his mum.

"Well, mum. In 5 months time. You're going to become a grandmother for the third time." John said this rather quietly. It certainly didn't quite go as well as he hoped. Perhaps because he didn't really want to wake up Rose from her sleep.

"Eh?" Barbara frowns her eyebrows. Her eyes and acting as if they were watching a very long game of Tennis, while she looked between the two of them.

Kayleigh wears a fake smile as she gives his heel a slight kick with her shoe. This pretty much is the wake-up call John has needed as it causes him to clear his throat and to speak perfectly clearer. "Mum, you're going to become a grandmother again! Me and Kayleigh having a baby together."

"Awwww, John! come here and give us a hug." Barbara's reaction is as they expected it to be but John believes it will go up to another level by the time Kayleigh's seven or eight months pregnant. His mum will go into full overexcited Grandmother mode and she'll be suggesting Kayleigh looking for the best and cutest baby clothes a new parent could find.

John gets up from the sofa and goes over to hug his mum. Rose has now woken up amid the excitement and gives Kayleigh a smile as soon as she sees her sitting on the sofa. Barbara is giving John one hell of a squeezy hug much to Kayleigh's amusement. "Oh, I'm so happy for the two of you. Knew it! Knew it wouldn't be long until you would have news to share with me. Have you thought of any names yet, love? Alexandra would be a good name for a girl. Freddie would be a lovely baby boy's name. Remember your dog was called Freddie. That poor dog used to wander around here, licking itself like an ice cream."

"You called your dog Freddie, as in Freddie Mercury from Queen?" Kayleigh asks. She's dying to laugh but she successfully manages to hold herself back.

"Yeah, why. Nothing wrong with that." John answers. His head momentarily shifts to his left-hand side away from everyone. He was feeling a little bit embarrassed. Barbara gestures for Kayleigh to come and join them in the hug. She doesn't want her feeling left out. Rose is oblivious to what is going on, so she grabs the tv remote and switches the tv on.

Kayleigh cautiously goes in for a light hug just as John steps away and happily watches his mum and his girlfriend embrace. His mum was quite the stronger hugger as Kayleigh soon was beginning to find out for herself after his mum had acted fast, by enveloping her arm around to her back and then tugging her forward towards her. Hugging clearly ran throughout in the Redmond family during times of celebration and consoling. Barbara let her go after 20 seconds.

"Sorry about hugging you tightly Kayleigh love. I always get like that when one of my sons gives me some news. Nearly squeezed the life out of Paul's wife...god rest her soul. This is the best news ever. I'm going to have to call Paul and tell him the good news." Barbara went out into the hallway to make the phone call.

"But he's at the cinema mum. He'll have his phone off." John reminds her of what she told him earlier. His mum acted like the News of the World when it came to telling the rest of the family any news Paul or John had shared with her.

"Are we celebrating something?" Rose asks. Sensing there had been a sudden change in the atmosphere of the room. John, his lovely girlfriend Kayleigh and her daughter all had the biggest smiles on their faces she had ever seen.

"I know. I know. I'll leave him a voicemail and about 5 text messages." Barbara's mood had notched up to level 100. John thought his mum looked more happy for him now than she was when he bought Charlotte over to the house, to announce their engagement. Barbara seems to think the world of Kayleigh more than she did with Charlotte. The two women had never really got on together as well as Charlotte claimed they had. His ex-fiancee had never been fond of his mum's cooking whenever they tucked into a Sunday roast or a Christmas meal.

While they were waiting for Barbara to finish leaving a voicemail for Paul on his phone, Kayleigh decides to show Rose her baby bump. This manages to attract Rose's attention away from the latest repeated episode of The Chase which is currently airing on the tv. She sits up from her chair as soon as she sees the small round bump. Her face merges into a picture of happiness when it dawns on her just what exactly Kayleigh was trying to say. "Rose you're going to have another great-grandchild to meet in 5 months time."

"Nana, you okay? Nana?" John asks. Rose had given the family a reason to worry now and again when she failed to answer someone's question.

"Sorry John love. Just thinking my great-grandchild's probably going to be a right cheeky monkey like Ben was. Probably will start my shoes as toys as Sophie did." Ben and Sophie had both caused right mischief when they were toddlers. They had knackered out poor Paul and his wife with their hyperactive behaviour after they turned 2. Crawling out their cots at nighttime and along the upstairs landing.

"Oh, I'll be making sure there will be none of that Rose, don't you worry. I've seen my sister become an expert at this when it comes to knowing how to handle children when they misbehave." Kayleigh reassures her that she won't be letting anything like that happen with her daughter or son. If Mandy's parenting was anything to go by, she thought hers should be a doddle.

Barbara returns to the living room, still grinning away and looking likely to have called more than just Paul. "Christ mum. You took your time didn't you?"

"John love. Don't get mad but I just phoned your aunty Maureen and your uncle George. They're coming over to the house in a few minutes." Barbara announces.

"Oh great. Now my cousins in Liverpool and Wales will know. Paul's going to end up being the last person to know at this rate." The thought of the wider Redmond clan ascended on his mum's house by tonight, made John suddenly wish he and Kayleigh could borrow Harry Potter's invisible cloak to help them hide away from them.

"I can't wait to meet your Uncle George and Aunty Maureen." Kayleigh feels excited at the opportunity of meeting them for the first time. Rose congratulates Kayleigh with a better embrace than Barbara had given her.

"Oh, you'll love George, Kayleigh. He's got so many stories of the times when John used to try his aunty's clothes on when he thought nobody was looking." Barbara accidentally let's slip something she probably shouldn't have said.

"Mum!" John's cheeks turn the colour of bright cherry as he tries to conceal his blushes.

"Seriously John?" Kayleigh asks, tilting her head to one side as she turns to face him with a huge smirk on her face. Even after eight months of courting, there was still so many hilarious and adorable things to learn about her one in a million boyfriend, the father of her child.

"Yeah. I was young, wasn't I? You get up to all sorts when you're that age." John tries to move the conversation onto other matters but it doesn't happen as quickly as he had hoped it might. Kayleigh is giving the impression she has many more questions, probably enough to ask him until very very late into the evening. John is praying that she doesn't add to his embarrassment.

Surprisingly she doesn't make an attempt. As she's craving food after the long journey up to the house that morning, she instead follows Barbara into the kitchen. The two of them were overheard sharing a lively giggle between themselves, no doubt about John of course.

 **xxx**

A few hours later; Paul had read his mum's voicemail message and phoned up to congratulate his brother over the phone. He said he would be coming up to the house around 6pm. The only person who had turned up so far was John's aunty Maureen. She already had her feet under the table within half hour of arriving. She and Barbara were busy discussing names for the baby. John and Kayleigh were getting fresh air outside in the garden.

"Wish we could stay out here all night. It's a bloody madhouse in there. Before the end of the evening, my aunty Maureen will have gone and drawn up a Boys/Girls name list on paper and she'll be running a sweepstake."

Kayleigh half laughs at the thought of John's family and potentially their colleagues at work starting a baby name sweepstake as well. It's there she realises it might become awkward and wrong especially if the likes of Pamela off Non-Foods and Big Diane start bombarding her with questions about the sex of the baby. At least she knows Cath Hilton and Elsie will be protective of her. These two ladies had individually stood up for John and Kayleigh when Dave Thompson first got the word John was having a romantic relationship with a staff member and when he learned that the woman in question was Kayleigh Kitson of all people. Cath had given him a right earful when Dave suggested transferring Kayleigh to the Wigan store.

"She's just excited and happy for you that's all." Kayleigh completely understands. Getting John on board with understanding his aunty's good-humoured talk might take a little longer to accomplish.

"I know. God knows what it's going to be like when you're in labour. My mum will be driving the doctors and nurses up the wall. Asking when she, Paul and everyone else can come in and see us." John chuckles. He smiled, picturing the scenario in his head, how it might pan out and how Paul would try and outsmart one of the midwives with a fake story.

"Your mum and Our Mandy teaming up, god help the midwives." Kayleigh actually can't wait to witness or overhear this once she's given birth and is recuperating from the confines of her hospital bed.

"That reminds me we need to make an appointment with your Doctor, what his or her name?" John wonders why they hadn't thought of making the appointment much earlier.

"You really want to know?" Kayleigh asks. She doesn't want to tell him the name because she knows he's going to take the piss out of her doctor's name.

"Yeah. You'll need to see your doctor first and then they'll inform the hospital that your details need to be transferred over to them from now on." John's pretty much excelled at doing research on this. He couldn't resist looking it up on his phone last night, how long into a pregnancy until the woman's first antenatal appointment is made. It should take place in 2-3 weeks time.

"Ooh get you Mr Know-it-all. You've got it all worked out haven't you?" Kayleigh looks extremely impressed by John's keenness to learn more about parenthood. Since telling him she was pregnant a few days ago, Kayleigh was able to notice a noticeable change in John and she loved what she saw. Him making sure she didn't stay standing on her feet for too many minutes.

"I have. Just thought you should know, I'll be putting you elsewhere at work. So I can keep my eye on you. I don't want you being rushed off your feet. If Dave Thompson's got a problem with that, well then...tough bloody titty." John knows the workload will probably pile up for them both over the next couple of months but one thing he knows he doesn't want to see Kayleigh being forced to move from her usual spot in the dairy aisle to another part of the store where the work was more demanding.

"Aww really? So do you plan on telling me now or are you willing to keep me guessing where you're going to put me?" Kayleigh was relying on him to sneakily drop her a hint into their chat. She is hoping he hasn't considered putting her on Customer Service with Janet Page. That very thought filled her with utter dread. Janet was a gobby woman. She had a legendary potty mouth on her that the likes of Gordon Ramsay would be proud of.

"Beaver never tells." John taps the side of his nose. He's staying tight-lipped. She's even willing to seduce the truth out of him if she has to. With a baby on the way and with her emotions ranging from feeling as high as a kite to feel like wanting to stay stuck in bed all day long, Kayleigh knows things were bound to get quite crazy for her and John. John had better be fully prepared for the complete craziness over the next couple of months.

"Party pooper." Kayleigh folds her arms. She pretends she's mightily annoyed with him.

"What? You're making me out to be a right misery bastard. I'm not." John protests. He wants her to know he's only looking out for her best interests at heart.

"I'm joking. Just promise you won't keep me guessing for long." Kayleigh's convincing serious look fades away from her face only to be replaced with a highly amused look. She thinks he should have well known by now when she's taking the piss with him.

"Oh, you'll know by the end of next week. Once I've passed it with Dave Thompson." John smiled to himself.

"Thanks for reassuring me. I love you so much, John." Kayleigh smiles. She feels so lucky to have found such a wonderful and loving gentleman in John, who is completely honest with her and always want to make sure she knows that he is more than happy to go out of his way for her whenever he's required to.

She cups his left cheek with her hand and moves closer to him, so she can reward him with a kiss. John needs no further encouragement. He is reflecting on the many kisses they had shared since they officially became a couple. He can tell how much their kisses had blossomed beautifully from their very first kiss to their most recent kiss. Kayleigh was a dreamy and amazing kisser. There were times at work where John was tempted to call Kayleigh to his office, lock the door behind her and then have his naughty way with her. Bugger the consequences as far as he was concerned.

Their latest kiss had started with such tenderness. The kisses John was peppering her cheeks and neck with were divine and tender. The excitement of becoming parents was still playing very much on their minds. If any of the neighbours were having a sneaky peak from their kitchen windows at the sight of John and Kayleigh cuddled up and snogging on the garden bench, well then so what. John and Kayleigh didn't give a damn which nosy bugger might be watching them.

Paul appears on the patio in the garden while John and Kayleigh are busy locking lips with each other. "Alright lovebirds! we turn our backs on you two for ten minutes and you can't wait to get frisky with each other when you think the coast is clear."

John and Kayleigh pull away, breathless from the impact of their kiss. They hadn't wanted to be bought back to reality too early. The two share the same look on their faces, disappointment because Paul had spoiled their romantic moment by showing up at the wrong time. John turns to face his older brother, who has joined them by the garden bench.

"Alright, Paul. So what do you want to know? " John says.

"So I'm the last person to know? Talk about choosing your timing, John." Paul is beginning to wish he had left taking Ben and Sophie to the cinema until another day.

"Mum couldn't wait to tell the rest of the family. You know what she's like." John explains that this isn't his fault. Their mum was completely over the moon and she had clearly let her excitement and emotions get the better of her when telling the rest of the family over the phone that she was going to be a grandmother for the third time.

"Fair point. Mum's never changed one bit when it comes to us sharing some exciting news with her. I'm surprised she hasn't shouted how happy she is about your baby news, from the rooftops." Paul chuckles thoughtfully.

"Oh, Christ no. Me and Kayleigh will never get out of the street unscathed if she did that." John's mum was one of the popular neighbours among everyone in her street. The thought of the neighbours congratulating them left John feeling a little uncomfortable, to be honest. Kayleigh, on the other hand, liked the possibility of this happening but for now, she thought she should respect John's wishes for them to keep their news secret for a little while longer.

"So are you hoping for a boy or a girl?" Paul asks them. His body posture makes him look like he's conducting an interview with his brother and his girlfriend. Paul's absolutely delighted for John. He honestly never thought he would see the actual day where John would finally get to know how feels to become a parent for the first time in your life. Anytime he needs advice from his older brother, Paul knows he will, of course, offer his brother as much support as he possibly can with advice on changing nappies and singing the baby to sleep.

John could try and sing that Car Share Buddy song, Kayleigh had accidentally let slip about after John had introduced her to the family. Paul had cheekily asked her how John managed to woo her. Was it thanks to his impressive cooking skills in the kitchen/serving her a very romantic meal or was it down to him singing her a romantic song. She came out and said it. Well, she had kept it secret for long enough, it was time to tell a few people. She answered his question by saying it was thanks to John writing a song for her called 'Car Share Buddy'

"Not had a chance to think yet. I guess it's all been a bit of a whirlwind for the two of us." John admits he's still trying to get his head around everything of what was to come for the two of them. Birthing classes and getting to meet couples who might be expecting their first, second or third child.

"The clock's ticking on my lady time which is going be through the roof by the time I'm 9 months pregnant but that's not going to stop me from thinking long term and making sure John here knows how to connect with our child, don't you worry," Kayleigh reassures Paul, that she's totally got this with John. Paul can't hold back his laughter as soon as it registers with him that Kayleigh has just publicly mentioned her lady time in front of him. He grins over at John, who responds with a silent 'Don't ask' look.

 **xxx**

John's uncle George is currently sharing an embarrassing childhood story about John and Paul. John had got stuck in a cat flap when Paul got him into trouble one Christmas. He had to remain there for 2 hours while his mum and dad waited for the emergency services to arrive. It quickly dawned on Kayleigh, that this happened to be another reason why he wasn't keen on enjoying the joys of Christmas as much as everyone else does.

"Sorry for not telling you this Kayleigh. You must think I'm a right stupid prick." John whispers to her, as George starts telling everyone in the living room his next story about his recent troubles with his next door neighbour. The story becomes somewhat boring to listen to within a minute.

"John you're not stupid. You know what I think. You're one of the kindest, incredibly sexy, sweetest and I know for a fact you're the only man I want to spend the rest of my life with. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world, having you being a part of my life. I love that you cherish the grounds I walk on and how much you want to take care of me." Kayleigh instantly leaves John blushing with her amazing compliment.

"Wow, I don't know what to say." The pink tinge across John's face is clearly visible, so much so it could even be seen from miles away. He was speechless by her unequivocal honesty and her fondness for him.

"Don't say anything. We don't want to be getting ourselves an audience do we right now? If you know what I mean." Kayleigh playfully teases him. She delights in seeing him react the way he does when she turns on the charm, makes him sweat as well as also making his heart beat just that little bit faster.

"You're thinking about taking advantage of me aren't you? Kayleigh Kitson, I'm shocked, you're taking a huge gamble, aren't you. I mean, what if the two of us end up being overheard again as we did at New Year." John asks her, once the family leave the living room one by one after George's story has turned sour and incredibly cringe-worthy. He probably should have stuck to telling embarrassing family stories instead. It was very rare of him to tell an unfunny story before.

John and Kayleigh remain seated exactly where they are. They can relax better now knowing they're receiving the peace and quiet they've both been quietly hoping for all day. Kayleigh's intention was to snuggle up with John on the sofa. Once she does so, she feels she doesn't want to move from the warmth of his embrace. John's cuddles were perfect and amazing to feel cocooned in whenever he comforted her.

"Can we stay like this all night." She asks.

"Wish we could but I promised mum we'd stay over the weekend." John doesn't like to go back on a promise he's made.

"Can we have an early night. Just tell your mum, your uncle George and aunty Maureen I'm not feeling too good." Kayleigh's desperate to get John on his own even while she's staying under the roof of the Redmond family household.

"Christ you've got it all worked out haven't you, Mrs Marple. Right down to the last detail." John voices his surprise at her cunning plan. He's can't say he's too surprised to be frankly honest.

"Mrs Hudson from Sherlock?" Kayleigh frowns her eyebrows as she looks up at him. Why is he randomly bringing up the fictional character of Mrs Hudson from Sherlock into their conversation?

"Mrs Marple cloth ears" Honest to god, Kayleigh's many misunderstandings certainly needed to be sorted out once and for all, John thought.

Kayleigh takes his hands in hers and leads them towards the stairs. "Hang on I thought, you wanted me to tell me, ma'am, you were feeling under the weather?" John thinks they should tell his mum.

"I lied Jonathan." Kayleigh owns up straight away. She doesn't regret lying though.

"What am I going to do with you eh?" John can't resist laughing.

"I've already got some ideas on what I'd like to do with you. Wink, wink say no more." Kayleigh's excited and who could blame her. She and John had every right to get discover each other all over again in the bedroom. She tugs on his left hand persuasively. John checked to see if the coast was clear and gave the nod back to Kayleigh when he saw his mum and Paul chatting in the garden and Maureen and George were busy mulling over a few unusual vegetables that Barbara was growing on a corner patch of the garden.

A thrilled and frisky John and Kayleigh snuck upstairs to the bedroom which held special memories for them now, knowing this was the very room in which they conceived their child. John pulls his tee shirt up and over his head. He tosses it on the floor without a care in the world and makes his move on Kayleigh who is sitting on the edge of the bed with her hands placed flatly across the duvet. She can't wait to get her hands on him and grab a naughty feel of his bum, she thoroughly enjoyed playfully slapping his bum whenever she could. John hardly complained, he would try and tease her with words like "Good job you're not slapping my arse at work. You know you'd be out that door as fast as it takes Alan Campbell to finish eating a sandwich at lunchtime"

John finds Kayleigh's lips once more just as Kayleigh lies back on the bed and scoops her arm around John's neck, bringing him down along with her. Her left hand comes to rest on his chest while she cups his face with her right hand as she responds to his kissing with pure lust and enthusiasm.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**


	6. Chapter 6

**Car Share: The Sweetest Thing**

 **Chapter 6**

Two weeks later; John and Kayleigh are waiting for Kayleigh to be called by one of the nurses in the patients waiting room at the hospital. The two of them had left work earlier than usual that day because her appointment was booked for 3.30pm. Dave Thompson was pissed off because John's absence meant he and Cath had to divide completing John's paperwork and at least 2 unmade phone calls between themselves that afternoon. Cath was hardly complaining though.

"Still can't believe your Doctor's surname is Doctor Kirton. What's her first name, Annette?" John whispers to her. He's referring to Kayleigh's doctor who they were chatting to last week while she was attending her appointment at her local Doctor's surgery. He couldn't jokingly say it out loud because they didn't know which nosy bugger sitting nearby would be eavesdropping on their conversation.

"You see this is why I didn't tell you until last week. I knew you'd piss yourself laughing once I told you." Kayleigh has learned so many of John's habits over the last few months and she knows he isn't one to miss out on an opportunity to take the piss especially whenever he's in one of his cheerful and carefree moods.

"Too right I'm still pissing myself." John suddenly feels this isn't worth going on and on about so he changes the subject to the reason for them being there together at the hospital "Our Paul says the first baby scan is the most special and emotional feeling you'll ever experience." He had to admit he was starting to get teary-eyed at the thought of what he and Kayleigh will see on the monitor. He knows he's going to need to become a rock for her as will she need to do for him.

"Can't believe we're going to see our baby for the first time. Promise me, you won't let go of my hand, will you?" Kayleigh seeks reassurance from him. She hopes that he won't end up fainting or start blubbing more than her.

"What you on about? Of course, I won't let go out of your hand." John chuckles. Kayleigh's moments of silliness and nervousness did constantly manage to cheer John's up, by adding a smile on his face. Kayleigh sometimes remained oblivious over her perfect ability to make him happy and laugh at the same time. She hadn't figured it out. John laughs his head off while he reflects on at that one time where they were declaring their feelings for each other in the Fiat at work and he said 'there's a difference between knowing someone and really knowing someone and she said 'she knows him'. If truth be told she actually didn't.

"John stop messing around will ya. You know you'll get us kicked out of here for inappropriate behaviour." Kayleigh whispers to him as all heads in the room were slowly turning in their direction, no thanks to John's roaring laughter beforehand.

"You started it," John softly whispers in her ear. He's way ahead and aware of the watchful looks he and Kaylegh are receiving from patients presently in the waiting room with their loved ones and the very noisy receptionist who currently isn't doing her job properly. Kayleigh clearly doesn't give a shit or what they think, as she rewards John with a playful punch in the shoulder.

The pair were constantly cherishing the many feelings they openly held close to their chests regarding the status of their relationship. John and Kayleigh could easily flirt with one another and relax comfortably knowing they finally had some 'free space', 'proper couple time' and weren't having their relationship closely scrutinized by the likes of their work colleagues, family and friends.

"Miss Kitson. Can you follow me please to Room 4." One of their nurses eventually called her name. John and Kayleigh both got up from their chairs and then proceeded to follow the nurse down the corridor towards Room 4 which was situated on the left-hand side of the narrow corridor. Once they entered the room, John instantly noted the monitor screen must be behind the blue bedside curtain.

"I'm Olly and I'll be your Sonographer today." The young man introduced himself to John and Kayleigh. He gave John a handshake before making sure the couple were seated where they should be - John in the chair on the right-hand side of the bed, which Kayleigh was resting her head back on. John laced his fingers through hers. Proving he wasn't afraid anymore to completely display his love and affection for her. He was being such a sweetheart for her, by sticking to the promise he made earlier.

"Oh John..." Once Olly had applied a smooth, clear gel on her tummy, Kayleigh turns her head, so she can take a look at what she could see on the video monitor screen. She squeezes John's hand as Olly begins to move a hand-held transducer device across her baby bump.

An image soon appears on the screen, showing imagery beneath her bump. There is a lot of activity going on. It takes five minutes before John and Kayleigh get to see their baby in the womb for the very first time. Kayleigh is the first to get emotional, seeing her child's tiny hands and feet was genuinely the strangest yet amazing and heartwarming feeling you can get to experience as a first-time mother. She cherishes the feeling of how this wonderful gift, a life growing inside her, which she and John created together, is now making his/her presence known.

"That's our son or daughter right there." John rarely showed so much emotion in one go but now thanks to what he was witnessing on the monitor screen via his very own eyes, his emotions were spilling out within his body language and his facial expressions. "Look at me. You know I promised myself I wouldn't cry but I am. I'm so proud of you Kayleigh, proud of us for creating a new life. I know my dad will be looking down on me with the biggest smile on his face, seeing how happy I am and that I've made him a granddad." John couldn't hold back his tears of joy. He wiped them away, the exact moment they had begun to roll down his rounded cheeks.

"John it's okay to cry. Best to get it off your chest. I mean look at me. Be honest my mascara is smudged, isn't it? My eyes look like a racoon, don't they?" Kayleigh feels embarrassed for how she must be coming across to John and Olly the Sonographer.

"No, course they don't. You still look beautiful to me" She is precisely right to believe this but John assures her she looks fine and attractive to him no matter what she thinks. He knows without a doubt he would love her even if she sported the biggest sex hair or 1980's inspired hairstyle.

"Do I?" She doesn't look entirely convinced by his claim that she doesn't have Racoon eyes.

"Yeah, of course, you do. I don't want to hear ya talking any more bollocks okay." John leans in and lovingly kisses her forehead. He was incredibly genuine in his words. Lies weren't on the agenda for him, not today. They were waiting for Olly to tell the health of their child. He was jotting down a few notes from the scan.

"No problemo Jonathan," Kayleigh responds with an irresistible smile and she even manages to wink her left eye at him through her tears of joy. She's not one to miss out on an opportunity to act frivolously and naughty around him. It's the only way she knows for sure will make him blush with pleasure.

Olly interrupts them with the results of the health of their baby. "Miss Kitson, Mr Redmond. I have good news for you. The results have come back and from what I've seen. Your baby is very healthy indeed. I'll print you out a photo scan for you to take home with you. Should take a minute or two for me to do so. Anyway, while you're waiting, can I ask you both, if would you like to know the sex of your baby?"

"What you're thinking John?" Kayleigh is eager to know if she's having a son or daughter but is willing to check with John first. She's hoping he will fully agree with her on learning the sex of the baby.

John looks thoughtful yet unsure of what answer to give. He knows if he tells his mum, she will be having another grandson, she'll be insisting on buying a Bolton Wanderers baby kit before he can finish the rest of his sentence of what else he wants to tell her. He can't let Kayleigh down. She deserves no more worries to stand in the way of her overwhelming happiness and of course, she deserves the world for remaining an absolute saint and beauty throughout the last 8 and a half months of their courtship.

"Yeah...I think we should find out." Sod his bloody doubts. He doesn't want to play the waiting game for another 3 to 4 months to find out. He's really grasping the changes which are helping him to adjust to and to embark into fatherhood.

"John, what's got into you?" Kayleigh was quite surprised to see him having a change of heart. The John of old would be reluctant to find out as soon as possible but this new John she couldn't wait to

"I don't know." He can't explain the feeling properly to her. The right wording is taking it's time to filter in his mind. "I'm doing what I think is right." He's as honest with Kayleigh more than he could possibly imagine. He's given his heart to this beautiful and divine woman, she deserves to know how he feels sooner rather than later.

"So you're saying yes? you want to know the sex of your baby?" Olly asks for confirmation from them both. He can see how happy and calm the parents-to-be were. No nerves or disagreeing looks were shown from either of them.

"Yes!" John and Kayleigh spoke simultaneously.

"Okay. Well reading from the scan. I can tell you both...that you'll be welcoming a baby boy into your lives. Congratulations by the way." He smiles. He's only known this couple for a little under 15 minutes but he's extremely happy for them. They will be leaving the hospital, knowing they have the next 4 and a half months to make preparations for the birth of their son.

"We're having a boy. we're having a boy." John can hardly believe it. He comforts Kayleigh after she sits up and swings her legs over the edge of the bed on John's side. She wishes she could stay snuggled in his arms but given how they weren't alone in the room, she thinks they should save the best of their snuggling until later that evening. Besides they were guaranteed not to facing an audience around that time of day. Mandy and Steve were due to visit them in three days time, on Friday night.

John was handed the photo scan of the baby. "Kayleigh...Kayleigh you know I'm going to need my arms back now, please. Can't be looking at the photo with one hand, can I? Our Paul would smugly take the piss out of me if he saw you hugging the life out of me like you've won a cuddly bear you at Blackpool Pleasure Beach."

"Oh, I'm sorry John. You know me, I can't help myself can I?" Kayleigh feels awkward about how badly her overenthusiastic hugging must feel for John.

"Clearly not." A mischievous looking John agrees with her. He actually doesn't mind her hugs, the lighter ones were exceptional and enjoyable. The squeezy hugs were what can only be described as flattering but she didn't half like to squeeze the bejeesus out of him whether she realised doing it or not. Kayleigh released him from the comfort of her arms.

They left Room 4 together hand in hand. Kayleigh couldn't take her eyes off the photo scan.

 **xxx**

Friday evening; after a productive shift that day, in which John was relied upon to visit Ian Litchfield in Wigan with some unsigned paperwork. He was talked into treating himself to another breakfast meal from the cracking granary there. Litchy informed him that Rachel had latched herself onto one of the lads from the warehouse. The young lad's name was Liam. He was in his mid-20s. He moved from Belfast to the North West, in the hope of finding a decent job and a stunning girlfriend. Well, he must have thought all Christmases had come at once after starting his new job and the moment he set his eyes on the blonde Geordie.

He and Kayleigh were tidying the living room before Mandy and Steve due to arrive. John was fluffing the purple and blue cushions on the sofa. Kayleigh was cleaning the flat tv screen in the corner of the room.

"Can't believe how quickly it took Rachel to hook with someone whose non-management. Poor bloke, hope he knows what he's let himself in for with that slapper." Kayleigh sort of feels sorry for the bloke who has now shacked up with the maneater. She thinks it will last another couple of days before Rachel gives him the elbow and then moves on to her next conquest.

"Litchy said the same thing. What time's your Mandy and Steve getting here again?"

"Our Mandy said 7pm on the phone." Kayleigh could tell John was looking forward to chatting with Steve about the recent classic motorbikes event that took place in Manchester last weekend. Honestly, the blossoming bromance between the pair was easy to see. Kayleigh thought they should bond over stuff other than motorbikes, like football or music.

"Oh great. Gives me time to look for a bike magazine that Our Paul left here the other week. Hope you didn't throw it out on me"

"I threw a couple of magazines in the recycling bin last week. Come to think of it." Kayleigh is making the most of winding him up good and proper. "Oh, John, I may have accidentally chucked it out."

"Kayleigh! You better be joking." John looks mortified at the possibility of him no longer owning the magazine. He believes she's talking bollocks surely and hoping she hasn't taken secretly any tips from Mandy.

"Of course I'm joking. I might not want to hear you and Steve bonding over the best British bikes but that doesn't mean I would go throwing your magazines away without your permission. I'd wait and then ask you first of course." Kayleigh was getting far too good at this joking around business. It was John's turn to play the 'I'm joking' game next.

"Yeah I don't mind talking bikes with him but Christ the man doesn't half go on and on and on about them." John knows he isn't a big enough fan of classic motorbikes as Steve is.

"See what did I tell John? He's a right freakoid. Our Mandy will have him dressing up for the meal tonight as if she wants him to audition for the next James Bond role." Kayleigh is certainly looking forward to tonight's gathering as well as seeing Mandy's reaction to the photo scan. She hadn't told her sister yet that she and John were expecting a baby boy. So there was bound to be plenty of tears once she and John share their news with her.

"That should be fun." John laughs. He got along well with Mandy ever since the day Kayleigh introduced him to her younger sister. She never gave him a tough grilling well because got the chance, as she witnessed a tender moment between the two and saw for herself how happy and alive he made her sister feel. She thought he was a keeper and so perfect for Kayleigh. Mandy even had dropped the hint to him once - when might John be getting down on one to knee to pop the question to Kayleigh.

The living room and kitchen looked completely spotless. John was rustling up an uncomplicated dish for the four of them. He was following a recipe he got off The Hairy Bikers recipes website. Chilli Con Carne. Kayleigh put John's favourite playlist on in the living room. She may be pregnant but boy did she still have some great moves while dancing. In comedic fashion, she twerked her bum in full view of John who was watching on from the kitchen and smiled as soon as she caught him fondly appreciating her rear.

"John! caught you redhanded." Kayleigh smirks to herself when she witnesses John snapping out of the appreciative daydream he had delightfully been having about her. John needed to finish off the cooking before things got out of hand or should he say hugely fruity.

I Found Lovin by The Fatback Band played next on John's playlist. Right from the off, Kayleigh had no trouble with picking up on how the words for this song reflected the way John feels. She wonders whether the other songs on the playlist might shed further light on John's love for her.

"I search for love before  
For a love that I thought I couldn't find  
I searched day in and day out  
For a love that was mine all mine

I played around with love before  
I was silly and you know that I played the fool  
But then you came and took my life and you changed it  
Cause I know what I want and where it's at Yeah

I found lovin'  
Since I found you  
I'm in love with you  
I found lovin'  
Since I found you  
I'm in love with you  
I found lovin'

My sun rises on your face  
When I see that certain glow  
But picture that's so bright  
You're my delight  
And that's why I love you so

I've played around with love before  
I was silly and you know that I played the fool  
But then you came and took my life and you changed it  
Cause I know what I want and where it's at, with you

I found lovin' (Somebody to treat me right)  
Since I found you  
I'm in love with you babe  
I found lovin'  
Since I found you  
I'm in love with with you  
I found lovin'

Yeah, ooh yeah, I found love baby, uh huh, somebody to  
Treat me right, oh yeah  
I found someone that's promise to be true to you baby  
Oh yeah, I found somebody, I found it all in you  
Oh yeah, lovin', lovin', lovin', lovin', I found some  
Love, baby I love you, I love you oh  
Yeah, I found some lovin', lovin', lovin', yeah oh yea  
Mmmm, I found some lovin', lovin'  
Mmmm yeah oh yeah, I found some lovin', lovin', lovin'  
Oh yeah I found some lovin' I found  
It all in you"

She loved how clever he can be all the time. If John could not find the right timing or the right words to remind her that he loves her, he would instead reveal his feelings through ballads like he did when he poured his heart and soul in writing Car Share Buddy for her last September. John was the first and only boyfriend, whose feelings ran deeper. She could hardly believe her luck when the man she had been car sharing with for three months had told he saw them being more than friends.

"Kayleigh you okay in there? Don't tell me you're having another one of your daydreams again? Me as Prince whisking you off in my car." John could not be more wrong but the guesses which he had given were somewhat entertaining and giving Kayleigh a couple of interesting ideas.

"Course I am. I've never felt better, thanks to you wooing me with your song choices on your playlist." Music was making Kayleigh feel like she was floating on Cloud 9 that evening. She thinks if she overdoes the smiling throughout the get-together, Mandy's going to start asking her questions on how long will she and John leaving it until they tie the knot. A few months or a year or two?

"Good to know. Don't be going listening to all of it though. I don't want you jumping me and ripping my clothes off like I'm that Channing Whats-his-face from Magic Mike after we've said goodnight to Mandy and Steve" John laughs. He knows it would be an uphill struggle for her to keep her hands off him, even while they were meant to be enjoying the presence of her sister and her brother-in-law.

"I can still pinch your arse though, can't I?" She fancied doing other things than pinching his arse. She liked to publicly lavish John with heaps of affection more than he did with her. She decided to make it her mission to get him to open up better in front of people. Everybody at work had known they were officially a couple but John kept on insisting on them sneaking around behind their colleagues' backs. They did find themselves basking in the glory of the aftermath of their making out sessions which they thoroughly enjoyed in his office at lunchtime three days a week.

Kayleigh spotted Mandy's Citreon pulling up outside the house. She gave a wave from the living room window. "Mandy and Steve are outside!" She excitedly announces to John, who is at that very moment, dividing the piping hot Chill Con Carne on to three plates. He has done a special meal for Kayleigh. He tries not to jump with surprise because of the sound of her voice.

The music was still playing on the stereo unit as Kayleigh headed out into the hallway, so she could open the front door and greet Mandy and Steve. The sisters share a long embrace, Steve looks to see where John is. "So what have you done with John. Exhausted him out with talk about baby names."

The Kitson sisters both shoot him a "Don't be such a party pooper Steve" look after the end their hug. Kayleigh and Mandy's icy stares always worked a treat on Steve. What John didn't know was that Steve never puts a foot wrong after facing the sisters' reactions to one of his absurd remarks.

"Someone mention my name?" John puts in an appearance as he comes to greet his girlfriend's sister and her other half.

"Alright, John."

"Alright, Steve."

The two men shake hands and share a brief hug, Steve gives him a pat on the back.

"Christ, what have you been cooking for us in your kitchen? Spicy Chicken." Steve said. He certainly had a good talent for picking up food scents from afar, just by using his nose.

"No, it's Chilli Con Carne Steve." John corrects him.

"Oh, I love Chilli Con Carne. It's always good with a beer." Steve couldn't wait to taste this meal. Mandy hasn't cooked this meal for ages because she had enough of listening to him farting the last time he had eaten it. She sighs and shakes her head frustratingly.

"You know Kayleigh can't eat anything spicy while she's pregnant, John." Mandy hopes he knows what to cook and what not to cook for her sister.

"Yeah, I know. I've done her a Tuna Salad. It was all my mum could eat before she gave birth to Our Paul." Mandy's fussiness was sometimes tiresome to put up with. He could tell why Steve was occasionally fed up with Mandy.

Everyone follows John into the living room, where his impressive playlist is playing on the MP3 Stereo.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**


	7. Chapter 7

**Car Share: The Sweetest Thing**

 **Chapter 7**

The evening at John and Kayleigh's house so far was turning out to be perfect. However, the evening might turn sour what with Mandy currently considering asking John the inevitable question, one which she knew Kayleigh would wish her sister would rather keep to herself. The P word - Proposal. As her sister and her boyfriend were about to become a family of three, Mandy felt she would need to ask John this important question sometime perhaps when Kayleigh wasn't present in the same room as them.

Steve, the first to finish the main meal. Takes it upon himself to quiz John about the upcoming birth and what were his and Kayleigh's plans after she's given birth. "So John, have you and Kayleigh thought about how long you're gonna take off work. Mandy had to take 4-6 months off after she had Chloe."

"We haven't actually discussed it between each other yet." John smiles awkwardly. He knows he probably ought to have got himself ahead of the game by now when it came to arranging time off from work around the time of the birth. He couldn't ask Dave Thompson last week as he couldn't get a word in edgeways because Dave was talking about the amount of stuff he had on his plate. Hopefully, tomorrow might be the best opportunity for him to bring this up in one of their conversations.

"I'll go up and ask Kath Hilton in her office in the morning. I'm sure she'll put me down for maternity leave John. That NOB head Dave Thompson will deliberately leave it until the last minute for you because he knows he's got you under his thumb."

"I already know what he's doing with me. This is the reason why he and Kath have never got on well with one another, as well as anyone in HR and the shop, think they do."

"Oooh, why's that?" Kayleigh is intrigued to hear every juicy detail as to why Dave and Kath have never gotten along with each other. Mandy and Steve who were now grinning can only remain silent and listen on with interest to the story that John was on the verge of sharing with them.

"She got locked out of office one morning because there was refurbishing getting done in some of the offices. Then when she asked Dave why he didn't bother to discuss with her the day before, the bastard laughed in her face. Nobody likes him in HR and Sales Admin anyway."

"That's terrible. If it was me I'd have hurt him where it really hurts and no I don't mean in the crown jewels. I'd have hurt him by making him admit he has always been wrong about Our Kayleigh." Kayleigh's eyes widened as she blushed further. She did appreciate her younger sister standing up for her but honestly Mandy's habit of not keeping something which they've spoken about away from their other halves a secret for long, didn't half annoy her. "Did she file a complaint against him?" Mandy asks.

"No. I'm surprised he's lasted 23 years in the shop. Get the feeling, once he goes. I'll be stuck where I am in the shop" John sighs. He knows he will get himself out of working as an Assistant Manager one day, it was just a matter of when the odds might finally be in his favour and help him to get a less stressful job.

"No offence John but Kayleigh's right you've got to give him a right bloody earful if he dares to insult Kayleigh again." Mandy tries to motivate John into standing his ground against his grumpy boss.

"Oh, I will. Don't you worry. You know he told me once when Kayleigh was in my car with me but he didn't know she was. That he thought Kayleigh was playing me like a fucking fiddle. What an arsehole! I could have " John was up for the challenge. He didn't plan on landing himself in the shithouse or anything by punching Dave's lights out. No, he wanted to make a few things clear that he would be putting fatherhood first before work and Dave would have to get someone to come over from one of the other shops to take over some of John's work responsibilities.

"Oh, I know John. Eh, you might be able to do that in the future." Kayleigh tells him. Everyone around the dinner table (apart from Kayleigh) exchange the same 'come again?' look between each other.

"Do what?" John asks her.

"Deck someone through your phone. If you can't stand them slagging off a friend or a loved one." Kayleigh sounds as though she's talking absolute gibberish.

"Where do you read this?" John is tempted to give into laughter after she has half explained to him about what she just meant. He's old-fashioned, so he doesn't like to think too far ahead into the future as Kayleigh usually loves to do. The thought of some arse clown being on the receiving end of someone's fist does make him chuckle though.

"I read it during my lunch break the other day," Kaylegh reveals. She can't remember the name of the magazine.

"Typical magazine bollocks." Steve shares his thoughts on this near-futuristic prediction. Mandy nods her head in agreement.

The conversation moves on to when John and Kaylegh were going to be attending their first antenatal class with other parents-to-be would be happening. "I'm actually quite nervous. I'm always nervous when I meet new people." Kayleigh admits because she feels meeting new faces is an excitable yet anxious prospect for her and John.

"Christ we're not going to our first one yet. We've got another three months to prepare ourselves, Kayleigh." John was nervous too but he wasn't going to admit it out loud. He wonders whether he should ask for parenting advice from Steve.

"I'll prepare her. Don't you worry John." Mandy promises to make sure Kayleigh feels calm and her bubbly self. It shouldn't take her long to work her magic. Despite Kayleigh being the older sister, Mandy was always the one who spoke much more sense and knew the things to look out for during pregnancy.

"Oh, this should be fun." Kayleigh jokes. John finds the funny side of her joke as does Steve, however, Mandy looks far from impressed.

 **xxx**

Steve and John were sitting in the living room, watching one of Guy Martin's motorbike documentaries while Mandy and Kayleigh were chatting outside in the back garden.

"Have you considered calling mum yet and telling her she's going to be a grandmother." Mandy thought their mum should be contacted and told about Kayleigh's pregnancy news.

"She swanned off to London with her toyboy and didn't leave us a contact number remember." Kayleigh reminds her sister that the mum walked out of them without a word 6 years ago.

"Fair point but I think she still needs to know. It's up to you Kayleigh." Mandy doesn't want to pressure her sister but feels the final decision is up to Kayleigh to make at the end of the day. Kayleigh hadn't dared to think of allowing her mum re-enter her life and introducing her to John. Her mother probably was missing the family wherever she was in London now.

Steve's smelly feet was soon becoming a problem for John to deal with. ' _How on earth does Mandy put up with the smell?'_ John asks himself as he briefly watches Steve admiring the motorbike Guy was riding in the episode they were watching.

"Oh, the Black Shadow that's a classic that is. Richard Hammond rode it on Top Gear." Steve tells John while his eyes are glued to the tv. He certainly proves how much of a classic motorbike expert he is with his amazing knowledge.

"Oh yeah, I remember that episode. The bloody bike kept breaking down on him while it was pissing it down, didn't it. Bloody May ended up winning the race." John chuckles thoughtfully. He and Steve were definitely two of a kind, thanks to their love for classic bikes and Top Gear.

Kayleigh and Mandy rejoin their other halves in the living room. John lifts his arm up and puts it around Kayleigh's shoulder, making room for her to snuggle into him. She rests her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes. The two look the picture of happiness. Mandy and Steve both wonder if they were outstaying their welcome and if it's best to leave the happy couple alone for the rest of the evening/night.

John glanced over and saw them whispering something, he couldn't quite make out what was being said but he could tell that Steve was losing whatever argument he was having with his wife.

Mandy and Steve left it until 9 before announcing they would be heading back to Bury. She needed to be up for 6am in the morning. Meaning she was going to be driving into work 90 minutes early for her shift. She gave Kayleigh a hug on the front doorstep.

"Remember what I told you." She whispers to Kayleigh hoping that she might take forgiveness into her hands by welcoming their mother back to her life again. John who is standing nearby wonders what Mandy means by this comment and why she was behaving slightly secretive about this. It's not bothering him much but he feels he should probably ask Kayleigh, what the sisters had been chatting about in the garden.

John and Kayleigh casually wave off Steve and Mandy as they're leaving in her Citreon. It maybe Early Spring but the weather outside that night is feeling nippy, so the couple decides to head back into the house and do one or two last minute tasks before they go to bed. Kayleigh was looking forward to John's legendary cuddles keeping her warm that night.

Before he went upstairs to arrange their bed and tidy the room, while he's standing on the second step of the stairs, John comes straight out and asks Kayleigh what Mandy meant a few minutes ago. "What didn't Mandy want me to know before?"

"Was she encouraging you to have a secret rendezvous with Ted 2 or something?" John jokingly suggests.

"As if I'd do that...I probably should tell you something I haven't told you before because I think it's better for us to be more honest with each other." Kayleigh knows she can't keep the problems she's had with her mum secret from John. She reckons if their mums met one another, John's mum will defend him as any mother would rightfully do if she hears one negative word mentioned about him by Kayleigh's mum.

"Is this gonna be a good or bad thing you're about to tell me?" John asks as he sits down on the step.

"Oh, it's a good thing." Kayleigh as she goes to sit down beside him. They maintain eye contact while she continues talking. "My mum had an affair with a young French waiter a few months before my dad died. A year after his death, she wanted me and Our Mandy to be happy for her with her toyboy. We just put it down as the grief still affecting her. She said it wasn't and so she went swanning off to London with him because we weren't happy for her."

"Oh god, that's a terrible thing she did." John is shocked to hear how Kayleigh was appallingly treated by her mum. He's not met the woman but he knows he's got no sympathy for her.

"Mandy thinks now that I'm pregnant, that I should try and contact her. As far as I'm concerned she's not welcome back into my life." Kayleigh disagrees with Mandy. She's pretty sure that Mandy will accept her decision, as she too was hurt by her mum's nastiness towards them both.

"I'm so proud of you, you know. For standing your ground." John smiles down at her as he's comforting her. He kisses the top of her head and strokes her hair. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna stroke all your curls out," John assures her with a cheeky smile. His words were enough to lighten the mood, make her feel cherished and supported.

"What I'm going to do with you eh? My amazing hero. My Mr Cuddles." Kayleigh had plenty of nicknames for John. There were a few she thought might embarrass him. She knows she will eventually tell him them over the course of the next few months and years.

"Mr Cuddles...Christ don't be going around telling the likes of Elsie or Diane this while you're in work, that you call me this. I'll never hear the end of it from them. Let's keep it between ourselves eh?" John liked to keep certain things about his life outside work private. He didn't fancy being the butt of few nosy buggers' jokes at work.

"I'm not making that same mistake again, not after what happened with my ex. I may have said too much about his and mine's sex life. The next day I found out he was cheating on me with Stacey Carter who used to work in the store."

"Stacey who used to work in the Clothing department?"

"Yeah."

"What a right cheeky bitch she was! Always turning up late for her shift and never once bothered to help customers with finding clothing items or refusing to stay behind to do the stock take. I'm surprised Dave Thompson why bloody gave her the job at our store in the first place." Kayleigh finds herself laughing while she's listening to John slagging off this previous lazy-minded employee. Everything he's said about Danielle is absolutely true. They had a laugh when they reminisced about stories they shared. Kayleigh really doesn't want them to reflect too much on the past though because they had a blossoming future together to look forward to.

"Anyway, shouldn't we be concentrating on us now," Kayleigh happily reminds him before she plants a kiss on his cheek. She caresses his other cheek with her right hand. She leaves it a minute before she then slowly gets to her feet and begins to make her way upstairs with John in tow, holding her hand in his.

"Oh absolutely. Can't wait for us to have more Samuels and Abigails. Is it wrong for me to be thinking ahead of myself" John asks. What she doesn't know was that he has been reading online articles about the emotions first-time parents go through individually and together during the most important 9 months of their lives.

"Well, this is a change for the books." Kayleigh was surprised to see that John had given the stresses of work a deserving shove in another direction. It was like he said earlier on that evening, he was putting his family first over everything else.

 **xxx**

8 weeks later, Mandy and Kayleigh agreed between themselves, to avoid contacting their mother. Kayleigh was due to take her maternity leave around the same time as the reopening of the store. Dave said he needed John there alongside him but John a man of his word, informed him that he would be taking unpaid leave while he's staying at home and looking after Kayleigh and their newborn for the next week or two.

It was becoming such a glorious sight for John waking up every morning and seeing Kayleigh's baby bump. She was still as beautiful and utterly breathtaking to him as she was the day their eyes met across the road outside the Tram Station after she confirmed by text message that she loved 'Car Share Buddy'.

As they laid in each other's arms in bed one morning. John has got one thought he would like to share with her. "I was thinking I should write another song."

"Well, you can't name it Baby." Kayleigh giggles to herself as if she's just thought of something hilarious in her mind.

"Why not?" John is curious to know what she thinks differently.

"Because that's one of Justin Bieber's songs, that's why. Copyright...copyright." Kayleigh explains as best as she can. She looks up at him and takes a moment or two to quietly study his cute facial expressions.

"Bollocks to copyright. Anyway, my lyrics aren't going to be matching the lyrics to his song." John thinks her 'Copyright' suggestion sounds daft. He knows he's definitely naming this song either 'Baby' or 'Baby Love'. Once he's set his heart on something, there's no stopping him.

"Oh, you'll be sorry Jonathan." Kayleigh implies in an irrelevant way by winking her eye at him.

"Oh, will I?" John asks her with a suggestive smirk.

They both had the day off from work and were planning on making the most of their free time by going shopping for baby clothes before they attended her next check up scan at the hospital later that afternoon. Kayleigh was in no rush whatsoever to climb out of bed. John couldn't blame her really. She deserved the extra rest. John works out his head that it's been roughly 12 years or so since he had the pleasure of having a proper lie in while he was off from work.

"I wish we could stay here like this all day John. I just don't want to move at all" Kayleigh sighs contentedly. She was too busy enjoying running her hand back and forth across John's bare chest. From time to time she was able to hear John's heart beating. It was so wonderful and calming to listen to it, knowing she was the reason for the way it was beating.

John was up for around 9 and was now in the bathroom. Happily humming 'Everybody Loves Somebody' by Dean Martin while he was washing his face and hair.

"Oooh someone's a Shrek fan." As his humming sometimes broke into loud singing, he hadn't counted on being heard as far as the bedroom on the other side of the landing. Kayleigh had got up unaided from their bed and tiptoed barefoot towards the bathroom door, so she could hear him singing louder.

"Kayleigh!" John said. Kayleigh had heard him singing many times before, via the video footage that Jim's sister filmed of her brother and John singing at one of their Compendium's gigs and of course while they were car sharing but the fact she heard him singing romantically to himself, made him blush which became obvious as he saw the effects of this after opening his eyes and seeing how looks in the bathroom mirror. His cheeks were so rosy.

"Can I come in?" Kayleigh asks. She asks sweetly. She doesn't wait for his answer, so she makes one attempt to turn the door handle and doesn't succeed because she figures John who was mightily strong, must have his back to the door, preventing her of entering the bathroom.

"Christ no. Don't open the door yet." John says with a panicked look.

"John, I've seen you naked loads of time. I promise I'm not going to giggle if you are again." Kayleigh says, smiling with the tip of her nose pointing against the door.

"You're grinning aren't you?" John can tell she's taking great pleasure in standing outside the bathroom, no doubt fantasizing about him making love to her in the shower or in the bathtub. They hadn't tried that before. It was a new physical intimate experience she hoped they could try together in the future.

"As if. What makes you think of that?" Kayleigh realising she has been rumbled, steps back from the door and waits for him to show his face.

"You want to take a naked photo of me on your phone," John shares his reason for assuming this as he's drying his face and hair.

"Not today I'm not. But thank you for giving me this lovely idea for another time." Kayleigh laughs.

"Bollocks." John cringes as soon as he realises his slip up. He's in the middle of giving himself a deserving telling off when she interrupts him.

"Hurry up in there I need to pee." Kayleigh is now really gasping for the loo.

"Alright...alright." She can hear John's voice coming closer to the door. He opens it thinking she's only messing with him so she can lure him back to the bed but he finds that she isn't. She dashes past him as soon as he steps out of her way.

By the time she was done in the bathroom 20 minutes later, John had gone downstairs and made a start on their breakfast that morning. She could smell bacon. She immediately assumed he was making his own version of the Fat Boy Breakfast meal. She wasn't sure if she could as John so amusingly says with meals 'Fill Your Boots' which she did when she tried the large breakfast meal for the first time last year.

"Oh, finally you're out the bathroom. You do know I was going to send a search party for you." John says on greeting her in the kitchen. He has a little bit of fun at her spending considerable time in the bathroom as of lately.

"I don't get it," Kayleigh says looking clueless. The reason behind the joke hasn't dawned on her quite yet.

"No bugger does when I make that joke." John sighs. He knows he will try again with more of an intellectual joke on her this time.

 **xxx**

Shopping was tiresome later that morning. Kayleigh was well and truly running John ragged around every shop. It was good to see her still having that bounce and energy and how she was able to go from one part of a shop to the other part within seconds. He literally couldn't keep up with her. She had to drag him along at one point much to the amusement of fellow shoppers.

"John I'm sorry for dragging you. Hope you're not mad at me." Kayleigh says. She is worried, as he hasn't said a word for ten minutes. John breaks the silence. He's smiling which for Kayleigh is a positive indicator that she's worrying herself over nothing as usual.

"Of course I'm not mad at ya. Christ woman you ain't half got bloody more strength in that right arm of yours though." Words fail the parents-to-be couple as they descend into loud giggling and laughter.

"I guess I can be a bit freakishly strong sometimes." Kayleigh looks pretty proud of her newly discovered achievement.

"Nothing ever surprises me anymore with you Kayleigh Kitson. What am I letting myself in for with you?" John asks. He has been asking this very question since they took their relationship to the next level. Kayleigh hasn't a problem with him John asking this question now and again. She finds it extremely funny because she loves seeing the look on his face when he says it.

"Oi cheeky." A few eyebrows were raised at them by passing customers as John and Kayleigh were laughing heartily as the two had so often laughed before. Their laughter this time lasted a good 10 minutes.

The next shop they entered was Primark, who was displaying an extensive range of baby clothes and toys. Kayleigh was already racing around the shop as if she were a Formula One driver. John did manage to keep a close eye on her. They weren't intending to buy anything in Primark seeing as they had pretty much bought enough baby clothes in Mothercare and Mamas & Papas.

"Kayleigh, you know we best get wriggle on. Grab a bite to eat and then get this stuff home." John points out as he's holding three bags. It was now lunch hour and the shops were becoming busy with elderly customers, Year 11 school kids and office workers on their lunch break. He could hear his stomach growling the longer he stood around browsing at one or two decent chequered shirts he liked the look of.

"Have a Snicker." Kayleigh smiles, joking with him.

"What?" John frowned, looking half confused.

"You're not you when you're hungry. Oh, you know the Snickers motto that comes on the telly every now and again. Don't tell me you've never watched any of their adverts, John?" Kayleigh laughs.

"Oh Aye that motto. I know it now. Sorry, I was miles away but I got there in the end." John grins. He looks back at the shirts and takes two of the railing they were on. "You know what, I think I'll buy these two." Kayleigh sighs. So much for them to stick an 'I won't become a shopaholic' promise.

 **xxx**

At her latest baby scan, Kayleigh had become emotional at seeing how healthy and beautiful hers and John's unborn child growing inside her. Mandy had told her 'the waterworks happen around when you're 6 months pregnant. Just make sure you're not scaring the shit out of John with your lady time getting out of control. I did with Steve, no wonder he hid in the garage with his bloody bikes.'

"Kayleigh come here. You daft woman." John gave her an exemplary hug outside the hospital's main entrance. She buried her head in his shoulder. Every time John had often comforted her with one of the 'legendary hugs' she felt a warm fuzzy feeling, one which she never ever wanted to stop feeling.

"You're going to be an amazing mother Kayleigh. Don't ever think that you won't." John's words were clearly from the heart. His thoughtfulness and caring nature shined through as he did his best to reassure her she shouldn't feel scared nor feel she would fail because she's capable of being the funniest and most loving mother ever.

"Thank you, John. I don't know what I'd do without my sexy bear." Kayleigh's tears had stained the collar of John's shirt. She glanced up at him, her eyes meeting his. She was slowly beginning to cheer up.

"Sexy bear?" John is bewildered to learn that she thinks of him as a bear. Lord knows what's going on in that head of hers when she decides to keep one or two other naughty comparisons to herself instead of telling him what they were.

"Oh yeah. Or if you prefer it, I'll call you my sexy northern stallion" Kayleigh prefers 'Stallion' more than 'Sexy Bear', she hopes John will agree with her.

John ponders this for a moment before making his decision. "Stallion it is then. Now come on let's get you home before you have any ideas that contain the words 'Up to no good' and 'wandering eyes'. John knows he isn't having any of this carry-on while they're standing around. He knows they've had a very long day but perhaps he and Kayleigh could hopefully make up for it as soon as they've closed the front door behind them at home.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**


	8. Chapter 8

**Car Share: The Sweetest Thing**

 **Chapter 8**

It was August and Kayleigh was now 8 months pregnant. Over the last two months, her lady time was stressing the couple out. John couldn't keep up with what this was doing to the two of them from one day to the next. Some days she was snappy and then other days she was her normal self. Despite her changeable behaviour, John knows this won't stop him loving Kaylegh and how would he have to adapt to having the patience of a saint when it came to dealing with her emotions until she gives birth.

John and Kayleigh were attending their first antenatal class with other parents-to-be.

"I am actually quite nervous, Making friends with new people," Kayleigh tells him as she's taking a peek through the square glass section of the door of the room, in which the class would be taking place.

"You're a natural with people, Kayleigh. I've seen you on the store cameras. You know, I've seen how you greet customers when you trying to get them to sample the cheese products you've got. You're always professional and friendly" John reassures her while he's giving her a shoulder rub.

"You're a right sneaky perv, Jonathan." She giggles softly. She did have an inkling that he had probably been spying on her via the store's CCTV cameras.

"What? I was doing it because I was making sure Dave Thompson wasn't giving you a tough time. The only chance I get of looking at what's going on is when Dave's on the shop floor." John reveals how he manages to stay one step ahead of the game against his grumpy manager.

Kayleigh turns to face him. Bless him. He knows her too well when it comes to putting a smile on her face. She's thankful to him for going above and beyond for her even though she hasn't been nice to him. "I'm sorry for being snappy with you John over these last few weeks. Being pregnant is a right rollercoaster of emotions. Never expected to feel like this."

"It's natural. Our Paul went through this twice with Ruth when she was pregnant with Ben and Sophie. Ruth was absolutely fuming with him for fainting when she was in labour. Me and my mum was waiting outside the delivery room but when he sat me down afterwards and described what happened, it sounded absolutely hysterical. Anyway, he's prepped me. He said the important thing is me staying calm and not fucking things up as he did." John sighs. He's keeping his fingers crossed that he won't make the mistakes Paul made.

Kayleigh sweetly places her hand across his left cheek. John responds by placing his hand over hers before taking the opportunity to close his eyes and relax, as he slowly starts to succumb to the touch of her fingers resting on his skin. Those fingers of hers constantly left an utterly wonderful effect on him, one that imprinted itself in his heart and mind.

"I feel like the luckiest woman in the world right now," Kayleigh said, getting teary-eyed.

"Eh?" John hasn't listened to a word she's said. Obviously, this memorable distraction was clouding his thought process.

A huge soppy smile forms itself across Kayleigh's face. For over a year, she's encouraged him to stand up for him against the likes of Dave 'N-O-B head' Thompson and Stink Ray whenever one or even both of them are in one of their bad moods. She's witnessed his confidence help him get his voice heard by his fellow colleagues and even one day she had the pleasure of watching John give a speech that was a million times better than Dave's, the Scot was left humiliated. She's incredibly proud of him.

"Mr Redmond, Miss Kitson. Would you like to come in and join us?" The red-haired lady running the class greets them by the door. Her name was Rebecca according to the name badge that she was wearing on her cardigan.

Some of the other parents-to-be were already sitting in the room, waiting for the class to start.

"John? John Redmond?" One of the women's husbands instantly recognises John. It's someone who John has met before at a retail conference. The man gets to his feet and walks over towards John and Kayleigh.

"Brian Williams." John recognises him this man as he gets up to his shake his hand.

"Long time no see John. I didn't realise you got married." The Sainsburys area manager gets the wrong end of the stick.

"No this is my girlfriend Kayleigh. We've been together for a year." John corrects him before he then introduces Brian to Kayleigh.

"Nice to meet you, Brian." Kayleigh smiles as she shakes his hand too. She's getting the feeling though that this man might be a bit of nosey bugger.

"So how did you two meet?" Brian's curiosity is extremely irritating because he looks more interested in learning more about John and Kayleigh's relationship.

"We work at the same store. We were paired together through our company's car sharing scheme, thanks to Kath Hilton from HR."

"Didn't take the two of us long to fall in love with each other." Kayleigh looks at John while she's mentioning this.

"Aww. That sounds proper romantic. Falling in love with the person sitting next to you." Brian is pleased for the two of them. He leaves them alone as soon as he sees his wife Sarah waving her hand back and forth for his help as soon as possible. She couldn't move over to the nearest chair unaided.

"Oh, John. He might as well have had a notepad with him." Kayleigh whispers. Herself and John both agreed that Brian had just behaved like an aspiring but nosy journalist who was overeager to jot every detail of their relationship. He had a bloody cheek to stick in his nose in.

"I know. Tell me about it." He knows it's wrong to slag someone off behind their back but John can't resist having a decent laugh about meeting Brian and his wife. "He's a Robbie Williams and Take That fan you know," John recalls one of the conversations he shared with Brian a couple of years ago at the Retail conference they were both attending, Brian couldn't stop repeating the same story and John had been desperate to make excuses to leave him chatting to other attendees.

"You're joking." Kayleigh's remembers watching a very funny video posted on YouTube by Robbie Williams last year.

"No why?" John asks blankly. However, he is slowly beginning to piece together what she means.

"Well, in the video Robbie was miming and singing a few of his songs wasn't he while his wife was in labour. Brian's wife will probably want to headbutt him if he dares to try the same thing with her." Kayleigh giggles thoughtfully.

"Good point." John laughs with her.

 **xxx**

The antenatal class had lasted 40 minutes so far. Kayleigh was no longer feeling as nervous or stressful as she was when she entered the room. No, she had Rebecca to thank for introducing a breathing technique known as MBF - Mind, Body, Fabulous. The more she relaxed her shoulders, the more she felt the stress evaporating away like ice. Which came as a handy stress reliever. _Finally something better and simpler than Our Mandy's electric massager._ She thought to herself. John was also proving to be a massive help with his incredibly good shoulder massages.

"John never ever stop giving me those," Kayleigh says with a contented look on her face.

"Do you want to know something?" John says looking contemplative as he removes his hands from her shoulders.

"What?" Kayleigh has no idea where he's going with what he's about to tell her but she plays along anyway to discover what he wants her to know.

"You praising me that's what. None of my ex-girlfriends enjoyed my shoulder massages. when I usually gave Anna a shoulder massage she kept bloody flinching didn't she. Charlotte wouldn't let me go anywhere near her with a shoulder massage. I guess that was the sign that our relationship wasn't as perfect as we both made it out to be. Anyway, you..you're a thousand...no... one million times better than them Kayleigh Kitson."

"You've got me blushing now." Kayleigh smiles, she glances down at the floor fleetingly before she looks up again and looks over her shoulder at him with the fondest smile she had ever given him.

"It's true. You're always honest with me. You make me laugh. You make me happy. You're not afraid to call Dave Thompson all the rudest nicknames you can think of behind his back. They're all the things I love the most about you." John reassures her of everything she pretty much knows already. She can't keep track of how many times he's mentioned this but she thinks she can estimate it to 2 times a week/8 times a month.

"Oh, I could kiss you right now John but we'll have an audience which we won't be able to get rid of," Kayleigh wiggles her nose as if to hint other parents-to-be will probably feel either John and Kayleigh are stealing their thunder or find their relationship absolutely adorable.

"I'm sure we can make up for it later, eh. " John suggests, winking his eye suggestively. He thinks the two of them need to concentrate more on the task at hand of them becoming the most devoted parents ever.

"Ohh I'm looking forward to it," Kayleigh exclaimed.

Rebecca re-entered the room and this time she wanted the fathers-to-be, to sing to their unborn son or daughter.

"Did I hear that right? She wants us to sing to our unborn children."

"Yeah. Hey, maybe you can sing Car Share Buddy to our son."

"No way. Not in front of everyone. That song was for you and your ears only. Don't forget."

"Write a children's version then. Come on John. What's there to be embarrassed about? You're just showing your love for the son we've created together." Kayleigh tries as much as she can to motivate John into giving this a try. She can see how socially awkward he feels to sing in a completely different environment from the ones he sings in with Jim during one of their gigs.

"It's private though, singing your feelings. I'm sorry if I'm being a pain in the bloody arse."

"You're not being a pain in the arse John." Kayleigh looks over to Brian, who sees her looking at him and then gives her an annoying wave. Kayleigh waves back with an awkward wave of her own. John looks on rather amused as he witnesses the exchange between the pair. "As I was saying the only pain in the arse, is your mate Brian over there."

"He's not really my mate," John says briefly scratching the back of his head. "And I agree with you." John leans in closer to her before he cheekily whispers in her ear. "The man wouldn't know what the meaning of pain in the arse is unless he got an arse kicking from one of those WWE wrestlers." Kayleigh's relishing the closeness they're sharing right at that moment. It's brought to an abrupt end when Rebecca addresses everyone in the room once again.

"That was wonderfully done. Singing to your unborn child helps you to build a fatherly connection with them. This evening's class has shown that you've all made a great start in doing this." Rebecca praised everyone for the efforts they had made.

The following weeks of the classes, John's social awkwardness had become less problematic much to Kayleigh's relief. The most impressive thing of all was that his confidence was now growing to the best of his abilities. He hadn't got round to writing a Car Share Buddy inspired song just yet but he was considering it, seeing as Kayleigh had made it her mission to remind him as much as possible every day since the first class they attended.

One morning they were both getting ready for work. The August weather had been extremely hot for the last three days. The blue skies over the North West had shown no signs of giving away to cloudy conditions and heavy showers. John and Kayleigh had ditched their jackets, opting to go with wearing their uniforms instead. John was being the fussy one for a change.

"John my baby bump isn't going to scare kids away." Kayleigh laughs in response. "You know when I stayed home and you were busy at work the other day, Mandy came over to the house with Alfie and Chloe. She told them that they should always be kind to their cousin when Aunty Kayleigh and Uncle John bring him to the house."

"That was good of Mandy to have that conversation with the kids." John is pleased to hear Mandy has made sure Alfie and Chloe will stay on their best behaviour for when they get to meet their cousin for the first time.

"She thought Alfie might be a cheeky influence on our son, so she thought she would say a few words. Chloe said she can't wait to get to meet him." Kayleigh was glowing with pride and happiness, as she dreams of what the future will bring for them as a family of three.

"Oi Miss Daydreamer Believer. I and you are gonna end up in the shithouse with Dave Thompson, thanks to you standing there, getting yourself lost in Kayleigh-land." John grins, joking with her. Time was most definitely not on their side that morning as they were already running 15 minutes later.

Kayleigh gives him two playful prods in the shoulder for that comment of his. John puts on a performance worthy of an Oscar as he nurses his shoulder. Kayleigh giggles as she watches this performance unfold before her eyes.

"Come on then you big girl. Have you got your work folders ready in your case file?" She checks with him before he shuts the front door behind him.

"Yeah. My bag with my stuff is in the car." John explains how he quickly organized his work while she was having her shower after 7am.

"Ooh get you Mr Organized," Kayleigh teases him with a different, squeakier voice. She gathers her bag, clutching onto it as she starts to make her way towards the car while John locks the front door behind him before he soon joins her alongside the car.

They start roleplaying with each other. "Would Lady Kayleigh care for me to open the door for her?" John is having far too fun with it.

"Lady Kayleigh would like that indeed." She more than gratefully accepts his offer as he goes to open the passenger door for her and assists her with getting onto the seat.

"Jesus wept. We've seriously been watching too many episodes of Downton Abbey again on the boxsets." John sighs while Kayleigh laughs agreeing with her man.

 **xxx**

John was keeping tabs on Kayleigh on the CCTV cameras again and whenever he graced the shop floor colleagues with his presence, he took the opportunity to take her aside and asked how she was feeling.

"Three times in 2 hours this is becoming a world record with you." Kayleigh is honestly flattered that he was checking up on her. She couldn't complain really. She loved seeing him nearby while he was giving Stink Ray a telling off for not restocking the fish behind the counter.

"To be honest. I'd rather be spending time on the shop floor with you than with Dave in the head office. Christ, he's in a right bloody mood today. Sounds like he must have got out the wrong side of the bed this morning or something." John jokingly speculated.

"Good. While you're here you can remind Elsie that her job responsibilities don't involve flirting with poor Peter off Deliveries." Kayleigh shows her bossy side.

"You're getting too big for your boots, you are." John laughs. He reckons she might be secretly chasing after his job, what with the way she was asking him to talk to Elsie.

"Yeah, you're funny." She giggles. The couple is enjoying one's another company all over again.

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, I better get back to the offices, in case Dave's sent a search party for me." John sighs. He really doesn't want to leave her alone with queues of customers and especially with Diane off Non-Foods lurking nearby.

"I'll meet you for lunch outside, say about half twelve," Kayleigh suggests to him before he prizes himself away from her in case someone spots him from head office chatting to Kayleigh.

John gives her the thumbs up, to say 'that will do nicely'. She blows him an invisible kiss which is witnessed by two female customers who are browsing at the dairy products nearest to the promotion stand that Kayleigh was based at. Kayleigh just ignores the two ladies as she returns to sit back down on her cushy chair behind the stand.

"Hi, would you like to sample any of these different flavoured Dairylea Dunkers," Kayleigh asks putting on her work smile. None of the customers had listened to a word she said. She was keeping her fingers crossed, that when she returns from maternity leave, John will put a word in for her/help her get moved from Promotion Rep work. She fancies a fresh challenge. For the last three months, she's had her heart set on working in the Clothing department within the store.

Lunchtime came and Kayleigh dashed towards the staff entranceway before the likes of Donna, Pamela or Joyce appeared from nowhere and then prevented her from meeting up with John.

"Oh hiya." John's face is beaming like a child who has received the Christmas present he asked for. His smile drops, the moment he sees Kayleigh looking out of breath. What was his girlfriend doing? and more importantly which one of her gossip corner colleagues was she attempting to avoid now?

"Thank god," Kayleigh says as she's getting her breath back.

"Christ! look at your face." John chuckles. He wasn't being as cooperative with Kayleigh, as he normally was.

"Sorry, I saw Donna and Rick in the staff room didn't I. I guess I thought... I should make myself look invisible otherwise if I hadn't then they would have spotted me, then they would have insisted on keeping me company over the lunch hour. I wouldn't fancy having to sit there and watch those two snogging each other's faces...no thank you." She pulls a face as she tries not to imagine how that will look.

"Oh but you're happy snogging my face off, aren't you?" John makes a cheeky but worthy point. He knows Kayleigh can't resist getting her hands on his body even though she's pregnant. Kissing him was the only thing they could do right now, just so they could feel that familiar physical intimacy, the need to express their feelings and the throes of passion which they had both demonstrated during the first time they had made love and cemented their relationship in the process.

"I know but that's different. I'm always happy to respect your wishes to keep our relationship mostly private, unlike Donna and Rick who want to act like they want to get themselves on reality tv." Kaylegh loves how her relationship is completely different and heartwarming than Donna and Rick's which had been somewhat of a circus since the two got married last December.

"I thought Donna was your mate?" John is a little surprised, to see her badmouthing Donna. Weren't the two ladies meant to be good mates or was Rick's presence bothering her perhaps? If Rick were the problem, John knows he will have to corner the store's warehouse worker and have one or two words with him.

"She is. I guess it's just a shame that some people are desperate enough to show off even if they are your mate or not. You know like with naked pictures they've taken on their phone, while their other half is snoring their head off in bed." Kayleigh doesn't want her and John morphing into a couple like this with these same similarities.

John could see Kayleigh was stressing herself out, so he took hold of Kayleigh's hand and leads her around the corner, away from the store, towards the retail park where there's a Subway, a nice quiet Bakery shop and an American style 1950's diner.

"Oh come here" John removes his hand of hers and then comforts her by putting his arm around her waist, he allows Kayleigh to nestle her head against his shoulder. "Can't have you worrying yourself Kayleigh, can I? Don't forget we've got a bright...better future to look forward to haven't we?" John placed his hand on her bump. "You know with our little one on the way. I know they're married but I reckon Donna and Rick have got a long way to get to where you and I are right at this moment." John's words melt Kayleigh's heart.

"I love it when you get all sentimental with me," Kayleigh says excitedly before she then pulls him in for a 30-second passion-filled kiss while members of the public were walking past them. Once she finished snogging his face off, Kayleigh pulled away with a satisfied look while John was taken aback by her change in behaviour.

John had Kayleigh's lipstick smudged on the tip of his nose and his upper lip. She happily wiped it off with her right thumb.

"Give over will ya." John chuckled to himself despite moments earlier expressing his embarrassment. Kayleigh is making a right scene and quite clearly doesn't give two hoots about which nosy so and so may be observing her and John's latest intimate moment.

"There, that's better." Kayleigh smiled confidently. She turned around and then led the way towards the Subway outlet nearby. She was certainly craving food more than him. John hopes she will take it easy when she takes bites out of her Sub.

"Oh I fancy a Ham Sub. What about you?"

"I'll have the same. Oh, I can't have anything spicy, me."

"I know. I remember, the last time you said that when you bought food around to Our Mandy's house." Kayleigh giggles to herself. She's reflecting on the time that the Curry and Chips that he bought from the local Chip Shop which almost landed him in the shithouse with Mandy.

"Oh don't remind me. Mandy telling me to let it all out in the garden. To this day, I still don't know what that bloody chippie puts in its curries." John knows it's very unlikely that he will be buying any meals from that place.

"It was so funny. Your stomach making those rumbling noises. You know you even managed to cheer Alfie up, who hadn't had a good day at school that day." Kayleigh feels a little guilty for laughing as the pair of them enter Subway.

 **xxx**

"Thanks for buying me lunch today, John. We should do this again, you know when I come back to work from my maternity leave." Kayleigh is in a cheerful mood as the two of them take a shortcut back to the store. John would rather take as much time as possible to return to the main office. Fingers crossed Dave wouldn't be the party pooper he usually was.

"Not a bother. Certainly filled me up that sandwich did. Better not tell my mum, Subway's sandwiches might be just as good as hers." John is not afraid to admit how good their sandwiches were.

"I won't say a word. My lips are sealed." Kayleigh demonstrates this action with her right-hand seeing as John is holding her left hand.

"And will you promise, to swear on a Compendium photo of me that you won't accidentally mention this to my mum," John asks her. He realises he's said something he probably ought to have kept schtum about.

"You've got a Compendium photo?" After over a year of courting John, Kayleigh was still learning many amazing twists/surprises about her 'Car Share Buddy', boyfriend and the father of her unborn child.

"Yeah. I've still got a stack of photos of me and Jim, in a box, in the attic. We had them taken about 10 years ago. Jim's sister handed out a few photos at some of our gigs - you know in case any music producer happened to be there watching some of the other acts performing and caught our one as well. Unfortunately, most of them got handed back." Compendium had endured a few knockbacks over the years from independent record producers but none as bad as being overlooked for young artists at the same entertainment festivals.

"These I have to see," Kayleigh suggests, excitedly.

"Are you sure you want to take a peek on them? There's like 50 photos to look through." John attempts to put her off the idea and convince her to browse through them another time.

"Jonathan I see what you're doing." Kayleigh shows she isn't a one trick pony and that she does have some smartness in her. "And it's not going to work on me."

"What?" John wears his best poker face, pretending he's unaware of what she's accusing him of, while they're strolling across the car park hand-in-hand.

"You know. You're not fooling me." Kayleigh is failing to explain just what exactly she's accusing him of but it doesn't matter anyway for John because he already has roughly a good idea as to what she's harping on about.

Thinking on his feet, John moves their conversation on to what time Kayleigh will be meeting him outside later this afternoon/early evening.

"I'll meet you around 5 or after at the front desk. What time's your shift finish today?" This had been their regular routine since Kayleigh had announced her pregnancy in April. John had effortlessly stuck to his responsibilities of being the protective partner.

"I'm finishing half an hour before you. So it'll give me time to do those little exercises Rebecca taught me." Kayleigh wants to get what she's learned from the antenatal class absolutely right. John can join in once he's come up with a new song, which shouldn't take him long to do.

"What that frigging hum a song exercise?" It's not difficult for John to guess which one she's hinting about.

"Yes, that one!" Kayleigh confirms and then gives a preview of what well-known song she fancies trying out. She's humming 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' much to John's amusement.

"Get in there you before you end up forming a three-piece group with Elsie and Diane." John laughs. Kayleigh's singing wasn't as up to scratch as it normally was. John hurries her into the building.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**


	9. Kayleigh in Labour

**Car Share: The Sweetest Thing**

 **Chapter 9**

It was Kayleigh's last day before she was meant to be going off on maternity leave. Her colleagues had promised to throw her a baby shower she will never forget. Also John had constantly been checking in on her every hour of her shift. He was becoming one very anxious father-to-be that was for sure. Kayleigh had been sitting down for most of the day so far behind the promotions pop-up counter. So he really needn't have got himself into a fluster, seeing as she pretty much has everything under control and would be making sure she doesn't make one single mistake.

John returned to the head office and made the decision to put the kettle on in the staff room, to make himself a cuppa. Josh, one of the office trainees soon entered the office looking for him. He was completely out of breath from all the running he had done, after dashing from the shop floor, up the stairs and then up to the first floor in the building.

"Mr Redmond...you've got to come quick it's Kayleigh. She told me to tell you she thinks she's going into labour." Josh announces once he gets his breath back.

"Oh Christ" John's gut instinct was to drop whatever he was doing at that very moment and to follow Josh who was already halfway down the narrow corridor by the time he had chosen to follow the younger man's lead. Kayleigh wasn't due to give birth for another few weeks, the fact she was in labour now weeks early, really did worry John. His mum had insisted on preparing him for fatherhood - forming a bond with your child. Changing their nappy and singing a lullaby.

His heart was in his mouth as he nears the shop floor. Not knowing what kind of condition Kayleigh might be currently in, whether she may be feeling dazed or managing things just about. Thankfully Josh was still standing there, politely holding the door open for him, as soon as he reached the warehouse floor. The two hadn't said much to each other once they had finally made it through to the shop floor. John had a lot on his mind clearly and was not really in a mood for a normal conversation with the ginger-haired office trainee.

Out of nowhere Elsie takes things from there; taking the responsibility of escorting John to the part of the store where Kayleigh had now found herself. She was currently sitting on a wonky chair behind the fishmongers counter. Stink Ray was being far from co-operative unsurprisingly. He is behaving unfriendly with her because she's making breathing noises right behind him.

"It's alright Ray I'm here." John says as he appears at the counter and brushes past Ray. "Has anyone rang for an ambulance?" John crouches down on his knees. He cups Kayleigh's face and places a kiss atop her head. Before he can say anything to her, the unpleasant and disgusting smell of fish lingers around them and the parents to be try and find a way of getting out of there as quickly as possible, while Elsie is busy giving Ray an epic telling off for the appalling way he's spoken to Kayleigh.

"I'll ring for an ambulance." Josh whips out his mobile phone from his left trouser pocket and goes to dial 999.

"Oh John...I can't feel my legs...can't you carry me instead..." Kayleigh suggests while she's trying to get up on her feet.

"Me carrying you? You do know, I'll end up putting my back attempting that. Imagine telling the story on today's events to our kids when they're 11 or 12 years old, what happened on the day they were born? Your father's efforts of getting me to the hospital, so I could birth, resulted in him putting his back out." John didn't fancy taken that option right now.

"Listen here Mr Stinkface you say one more thing about wee Kayleigh here and you'll have me and my first to deal with" Elsie was a fine feisty form as she laid down an ultimatum to him.

"Mr Redmond, have you heard Elsie threatening me here. It's a bloody wonder why she hasn't been sacked by now for that rent-a-gob of hers." Ray glanced over his shoulder at Assistant Manager, who he hoped might back him up here. He was to be left disappointed however as John had absolutely no intention of stepping in to back Ray during this dispute between the pair. He had priorities to take care mainly getting Kayleigh outside to the car park.

"Yes I heard you Ray. For fuck's sake can't you see I'm a bit busy helping Kayleigh up. Don't just stand there, help me get her up will you." John demands for Ray to get off his bloody high horse and to put his differences aside with Elsie for the time being, while they guide Kayleigh towards the warehouse entranceway, which was on the other side of the shop floor. Ray does as he's told for a change and gets hold of Kayleigh's left arm while John holds her right arm. Meanwhile Elsie and Josh follow on, Josh updates John on the ambulance situation, stretching his giraffe-like neck as he speaks.

"Mr Redmond the ambulance should be outside in the car park within five minutes. Should I ring Kayleigh's family to let them know she's in labour?"

"I'll ring Kayleigh's sister, Mr Redmond. I think I've still got her number on my mobile phone."

"How come you've got Mandy's number?" John asks.

"Well to cut a long story short...Me and Kayleigh went Christmas shopping together and we ended up getting stuck in the lift at M&S. Kayleigh became poorly. I was able to get a signal on her phone. Her sister rang and I told her where the both of us were and that Kayleigh wasn't feeling too good. Anyhoww once we got out, her sister was waiting there and she thanked me for looking after her. We all went out clubbing on New Year's Day last night. Me and her swapped numbers at the end of the night, you know in case she wants someone to go with a future nights out. While Kayleigh stays at home minding your wee son"

"Uhh hello! I'm about to give birth here and you two are banging on about phone numbers." Kayleigh couldn't stay stood up much longer. She could feel her legs were going to give way any minute now.

"Sorry love." John apologizes. He doesn't wish to bear the brunt of her frustration.

"Sorry Kayleigh." As does Ray, which comes as quite a surprise to everyone there.

Two or three customers were being typically nosy while John and Ray were steering Kayleigh around the far corner of the Breakfast aisle and then through the double doors of the warehouse entrance. They got her outside within 2 - 3 minutes. Ray left them to it wait for the ambulance, John thanked him for helping to assist him with Kayleigh, with a pat on the back.

"John I'm scared" This was the first time John had seen a completely different side to Kayleigh as she clung to him tightly. She was always her a funny, bubbly, feisty and scatty self but had never shown a side to her that showed genuine worry and emotions that went beyond the usual ones she had shown once or two before.

"I'm here Kayleigh...I'm letting go of your hand...okay...Balls to what the paramedics and doctors say to me." John's support was that of warmth and reassurance. He had picked up on this from his dad six years ago, well it had become somewhat of a smallish tradition actually, for the male side of the Redmond family to take control of everything and to make sure to check on the health and current condition of your girlfriend or wife. John had just done this at least three times, by checking her pulse and making sure she doesn't lose consciousness.

The ambulance arrives in the car park. 'Honest to god' John thinks to himself, he's not happy that they've turned up 5 minutes late. John has a face like thunder when he sees the paramedic taking his time to shift his arse out the ambulance.

One of the other paramedics jumps out of the vehicle and therefore shows his colleague up, by doing his job properly as he thoughtfully helps John to lift Kayleigh into the back of the ambulance. "How long has your girlfriend being feeling these symptoms?" The paramedic needed to know as he was following the standard procedure of informing the doctor and nurses on Kayleigh's current condition as they begin to set up the delivery room for when they help to deliver John and Kayleigh's baby.

"I don't know...fifteen minutes maybe." John thinks it might be precisely that amount of time.. He goes to take a seat and grasps her hand. Making good on his earlier promise to her. He-s got a big soppy smile on his face.

The paramedic nods understandingly before he then fits a breathing mask over Kayleigh's mouth. He can see the closeness between the couple and doesn't wish to intrude on the heartwarming picture emerging right in front of him.

Once everything is set up in the back of the ambulance. The paramedic let's his colleague know they're good to go. John just wants this bloke to get them to the hospital as fast as possible. Kayleigh squeezes his hand.

"You're doing fantastic Kayleigh. I'm proud of you." John mouths to her. "I love you so much." He said with tears threatening to escape his eyes.

 **xxx**

They got to the hospital exactly around 3pm. Kayleigh was slowly becoming exhausted from the breathing exercises she was doing. She was rushed through to a room that the corridor which had been made available by two nurses in dark pink uniforms, who were now stood outside the room. They casually greeted John and then took over the responsibility from the paramedics. Within the first minute of meeting the parents to be, the two nurses set about making sure Kayleigh would be comfortable on the bed. John was checking his and Kayleigh's phones to see if there were new text messages particularly from Elsie. Nope. Relying on Elsie to do one simple favor was like making the mistake of getting in a lift with her and asking her to get them out of it.

"John have you rung Our Mandy?" She asks him, after the nurses leave the room temporarily.

"Elsie promised she would ring her." John hopes she hasn't forgotten to contact Mandy. He knows what the Irish woman can be like. Vows never to breathe a word of gossip to anyone, then five minutes later she's off excitedly gossiping to the likes of Pamela off Non-Foods what news she had just overheard.

"Good. What about your mum and your Paul, did you tell her to ring them too?" Kayleigh doesn't want his family to be the last to know that she's in labour. The nurse on receptionist had provided Kayleigh with a Hospital issued gown. John helped her to get changed into it while she was talking to him.

"Never had the chance, have I. Can't be leaving your side, lady...not for one minute...especially when you're about to give birth to our child... " John's devotion was an absolute blessing of the highest order. She counted herself as the luckiest woman on the planet right now, to be adored by such a lovable and marvelous gentleman like John.

"Aww John. You certainly know how to make a woman cry." Kayleigh gets a little emotional. "Just think we won't be getting much peace and quiet once when our families get here. Our Mandy will be banging on about baby names. Took her a whole week to make her up mind on naming Alfie. Hopefully it won't take me near as long as that."

"Let's hope it doesn't." John is secretly appealing to God, that she will definitely not follow in her sister's footsteps with this simplest of tasks.

The nurses returned to the room, now dressed up in surgical gowns and wearing gloves. John has to step aside, so the two of them could check on how many centimeters, Kayleigh has dilated by.

"Remember what you learned in the antenatal classes Kayleigh.." John tries to support her every step of the way because he knows she's going to need as much encouragement as possible. The antenatal classes had certainly taught them everything in the book of first-time parenthood. John had been a bag of nerves understandably over the last few weeks of her pregnancy meanwhile Kayleigh was just managing to stay on the right track as best she can. John couldn't look as it was getting graphic.

"Kayleigh dear...I think it's time for you to give birth..." The oldest nurse announces with a kind smile. John and Kayleigh exchange a 'This is it. This is it' looks with each other. As the father to be, John steps up to the plate and squeezes her hand lightly.

"Come on Kayleigh love. I know you can do this." John softly whispers in her ear. His warm breath tickled her earlobe. Kayleigh looks quite shattered even before she's about to get through the motion of pushing her baby out.

At three fifty-five, the delivery process was continuing and Kayleigh had pretty much lost half the strength which she had mustered up for the first couple of pushes."Kayleigh three more pushes now. You're doing brilliant..." The younger nurse is on hand to encourage her furthermore. John was supportive as ever and

"I can't do this John" It slowly dawns on Kayleigh, just how mentally tough and exhausting giving birth can be. All the tips and advice she had been given felt as though it had been chucked out the window. Her sudden self-doubt concerned John, who knew he had to take responsibility.

"Don't be daft love. Of course you can do this. Remember you've always told me how you couldn't wait to become a mother yourself someday. This what you've been dreaming of and are now about to make a reality because we made that happen together, creating a wonderful life for our son and for one which I'm bloody sure he'll always be grateful to us for helping raise him within. Just imagine him and all the other little Harrys and Sallys running round around our living room..." John was tearing up from the beautiful speech he was giving her, as were the two nurses the hadn't heard someone speak from the heart and so movingly before about how much they were looking forward to bonding with their newborn child.

"John." Kayleigh is eager to get a word in before John leaves everyone in a blubbering mess.

"What?" John asks. Wiping a few tears away from his eyes with his right thumb.

"John that's really lovely of you to say. You always know how to make me happy and cry at the same time. Also by the way, I think we need to have a word about those names..." She can't thank him enough for the round-the-clock support he had given her. John had put himself through a 45 minute argument with Dave Thompson, who had suggested Kayleigh probably oughtn't return to work after her maternity leave ends. John wasn't born yesterday, he knew this was Dave's excuse of finally getting shut of her for good from the store. He wasn't having any of it and blasted Dave for the unflattering comment he made _'Kayleigh would do a much better job at being 'a stay at home' mother than working in this store'_

"Why?" John asks her.

"Because we can't be calling our son Harry or our daughter Sally." Kayleigh was adamant that they should at least give this some considerable thought first before whittling it down to two or three potential names.

"Why not?" John was baffled that she wasn't considering these two names. He only mentioned them because he was thinking of his favourite film When Harry Met Sally and thought Harry might actually be quite a perfect name for their son.

Kayleigh couldn't give him an answer, as she suddenly an overwhelming strong push coming and remembered what the nurse's advice minutes ago, so she decided to keep pushing and pushing. The brief chat with John seemed to have kick-started her strength once again. John's words had clearly worked wonders on her. Kayleigh was screaming the room down. It was the loudest John had heard Kayleigh screaming and boy did she sound deafening.

John could hear the sound their baby crying. It was the most precious and beautiful he had ever heard in his 40 year old life. His forehead was sweating profusely. Without warning he blanked out, fainted on the floor, in a way which could only be described as a classic Comedy film moment. The stress and emotion had clearly gotten the better of the Supermarket Assistant Manager. Thankfully there was no cause for concern over his health status, as he swiftly rose to his feet in a matter of 30-45 seconds. Fainting, what idiot faints in the delivery room while he was waiting to welcome his first child into the world. Oh right him. It's one of those moment he knows he will get the piss taken out of him for.

After the baby was successfully delivered and Kayleigh was regaining her breath back. The older nurse named Linda evaluated their newborn and once she was satisfied the child was healthy, she handed him over to his parents. The overjoyed parents shared a tender kiss. Kayleigh's hair was all over the place, mostly draped to the left side of her head and her lipstick was now smudged across her mouth. John was now sporting a cherry kiss mark on his cheek.

"Wait until I tell Our Mandy about you fainting. She and Steve are going to be laughing their heads off." Kayleigh was extremely pleased to see that John was feeling good. She couldn't wait to introduce their son to both of their families. The two nurses left them alone in the room.

"Oh don't remind me. I don't know what came over me fainting." Although John did feel pretty embarrassed about the whole affair, he was still able to see the funnier side of this.

It was a joy to behold for Kayleigh, getting to relax her aching shoulders on her fluffed up bed pillows and watch on as John takes the opportunity to bond and play with their son. John was a complete natural. Well the two of them were to be honest, seeing as they had often found themselves being asked to mind their nephews and nieces for a couple of hours, in the past.

John was protectively cradling his son in his arms. His son had his dad's nose and cheeks asbwell as his mum's smile on his little adorable face. "Hello..little fella...I'm your daddy. Welcome to the world. I just want you to know that your mummy and I love you very much. Also that we think that you're going to be a right dazzler when you grow up. Something I know your grandad will be looking down from up above with the proudest smile on his face..." John glances up at the ceiling, indicating towards his much-missed father.

"Oh god John. I'm bawling here." Kayleigh reveals. Her tears were flowing down her cheeks like the Niagara Falls.

"Sorry for upsetting you Kayleigh love." John passes the baby back to Kayleigh and goes to sit down in the armchair next to her bed.

"Your Mandy should have been well here by now." Just as John was wondering why Mandy still hadn't shown up, his phone vibrated in his pocket and he took it out to check who had sent him a text message. It was from Cath Hilton.

'I've contacted Kayleigh's family and your family to let them you're both at the hospital. Hope things are okay at the hospital' Cath had obviously taken it upon herself to let the Redmond and Price families know the current situation.

John texts her back to ask her how long ago she does she remember speaking to his mum.

"John whose the text from?" Kayleigh asks. She assumes straight away it's most likely from John's brother Paul, to say he and his mum were on their way to see them.

"Cath. Looks like it slipped Elsie's mind to phone your Mandy. No surprise there I guess. Josh out of the office must have told Cath that your waters had broken and we'd gotten into an ambulance." John knows he will have to thank her properly when he next sees her in person. Perhaps with a 'Thank You' card then again perhaps not because he thinks Cath wouldn't want to make Kayleigh feel left out. He decides he would send a selfie of himself, Kayleigh and the baby to Cath's phone instead

"Oh I wonder why Elsie end up forgetting to call Our Mandy? It's unlike to forget anything" Kayleigh herself is still mulling over what possible last-minute hurdle had prevented Elsie from making the call.

"Five words 'Searching for a new boyfriend" It had become pretty clear lately that Elsie may be feeling down in the dumps and lonely. John wonders why she hasn't considered chasing after Stink Ray. The unlucky-in-love pair had yet to realize that they certainly had far more in common with each other.

"Come to think of it, Elsie might have hinted to me last week, she had her eyes on Brian from the Store Chemist. Poor man won't know what's hit him when Elsie starts making a play for him." Kayleigh laughs to herself, imagining Brian hopelessly attempting to avoid Elsie at any cost during both their work shifts.

"Poor arsehole indeed" John gives his final say on this matter or so he thinks, seeing as Kayleigh chooses to provide her final say as well.

"John!" She doesn't look best pleased with his comment then again he has never been at the helm of things when it comes to having a way of thinking before eventually getting stuff off his chest. She laughs to herself while she adoringly gazes into his eyes.

"What?" John asks. He had only been joking about Brian off Chemists.

"The man's got a name you know..." Kayleigh knows he only meant it as a joke but she still thinks he ought to be a bit more respectful.

"I know I know. I'm just saying. I've got nothing against him...just so you know" John carefully puts his words into perspective, so she doesn't misunderstand them further and in turn makes him wish he had never opened his gob in the first place.

"I understand...John I know you well enough by now to know you're...you're the most sweetest and caring man I've ever known and..." She manages to get his attention just at exactly the right moment, as she's about to tell him something else "I know you're going to be the greatest dad ever to our kids and that you'll be buying them the best Birthday presents."

"Steady on Kayleigh. I mean we can't go around with ideas in our heads that one of them will become a fan of Peppa 'Pissin' Pig while the others god forbid...might discover Shaun the Sheep..." Admittedly John is looking forward to finding out what certain cartoons/music his children will come to love as they're getting a year older from now until they are adults. He can see why Shaun the Sheep is Ben and Sophie's favourite TV animated kids show but for him he finds the show's theme tune a bit annoying.

"Shut up you and kiss me." Kayleigh giggles. She can tell he's rambling on and on a lot. She just wants the chance to snog him before their families finally arrive to see them and the new addition to their Redmond /Kitson family. They both moved in for the kiss. The kiss itself was full of tenderness and felt rewarding for the two of them because they knew could relax and spend quality time together as a family of Kayleigh's hand subtly came up to caress John's right cheek as she was succumbing to John's delightful kisses. She couldn't get enough of them. The smiles on their faces was a giveaway as to how the pair were both feeling as they pulled away to catch their breathes. They didn't have anytime as John suddenly heard familiar voices outside the room.

"Oh looks like we have company at last..." John announces as he catches a glimpse of Paul and Steve standing outside the door.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**


	10. Chapter 10

**Car Share: The Sweetest Thing**

 **Chapter 10**

"Oi Mandy they're in here!" Steve calls to Mandy who is presumably further down the corridor. The sound of the motorbike enthusiast's voice echoing throughout the walls of the corridors and surroundings wards . God knows why she wasn't establishing her presence straight away because the first-time parents were expecting to see her being the first family member dashing into the room.. In the meantime John now sporting a joyful smile on his face, waves to Paul, who already seems to have taken a shine to new addition to the Redmond family through the glass window.

John beckons his brother to enter the room by sending him a quick text, which reads "Come in Paul Redmond are you there? Paul Redmond, Reckless Redmond insists you get your arse in here now." The happy parents soon see Paul reading the text. The look on his face suggested/read as 'Captain Redmond? Haha very funny. Alright alright I'm coming in ' From nowhere Mandy sidestepped her way past him and entered the room along with Steve, Paul came in and went over to give John a massive 'Congratulations' hug and a pat on the back.

"Oh he's so adorable Kayleigh" Mandy says the moment she sets her eyes on and dotes over her nephew, who is now in a blissful sleep in his mother's arms. John thinks it might be better to put their son in the hospital baby cot to the right hand side of the bed, so the little fella could sleep well. He places a kiss on top of his son's head. This fatherly moment is witnessed by Mandy, Steve and Paul, whose hearts look like they've just melted by seeing how well John is taking to becoming a parent.

"I'm really happy for you two, you know. I hope you're ready for sleepless nights." Paul thinks the workload for his brother might get in the way of him spending time with his family. He hopes John will tell that knobhead boss of his to lay off with the paperwork for a good while. So he can take on the responsibilities of being a father and supporting Kayleigh through the first 3-6 months as best as he possibly can.

"Ready as I'll ever be" John answers. He already has come up with a very good plan for this. One which he could not wait to try out.

"Good to hear you sounding confident John. Steve couldn't get any sleep at all after I had Alfie. You should have heard him when he was a baby he couldn't stop crying. I think we knew back then that Alfie would turn into a right troublemaker."Mandy had never doubted John for one second since the day Kayleigh announced that the two of them were expecting their first child. She can tell the couple will learn a whole lot more from each other as the years going on.

"Parents instincts isn't it Mandy? You two will be going through that experience soon with this little fella." After paying attention to what his wife had said, Steve describes what this feeling had felt like from his perspective, the first time he became a father. He just wants to pass this knowledge on to John and Kayleigh. They would learn themselves when they should expect to catch a glimpse of how smart or cheeky their son might become as he's growing up.

"Really?" Kayleigh asks. She still looks shattered after giving birth, so she understandably is a bit slow to understand what Steve means. At least he wasn't behaving unbearably and trying to deliberately distract John with classic motorbike chat for a change. Mandy has probably issued him with a formal warning because this would certainly explain why he was acting differently today.

"Yeah. Trust your instincts that's all I'm saying Kayleigh. You and John shouldn't need to feel worried. Hey who knows may be little Matthew over there might show signs he wants to be a footballer or something else someday soon"

"Matthew?" John and Kayleigh both more or less end up questioning this random name at the same time as each other.

"Oh sorry it's the name my mam and dad considered calling me before they eventually agreed on calling me Steve instead." John and Kayleigh both exchange smiles with one another before focusing their attention on an oblivious Steve "Care to explain why you two are looking at me as if I've suddenly come to your rescue?" Steve's own gut instincts tell him it may be to do with what he had just told them.

"Steve...I think you might have just helped us out there bud." John's benevolent smile said everything that needed to be said, as he held Kayleigh's hand in his and then looked up at Paul, who gave a nod of approval. There was a bit of a height difference between the two brothers. Paul was the youngest and the tallest brother.

"You want to call your son James." Steve suddenly feels privileged to have benefited towards helping John and Kayleigh with naming their son. Mandy feels touched to see the man she married finally saying the right things for once in his life.

"Me and Kayleigh think it's a perfect name..."John pauses for a few moments. He has something else in mind as hi eyes meet Kayleigh's. He therefore takes a deep breath before he then starts to reveal what he wants to share with the two families. "How does Matthew Peter Redmond sound?"

"Dad's name." Paul says as if a light-bulb has just clicked above his head. He quickly sheds a tear just thinking about how mum will react when she hears John has decided to put Peter down as Matthew middle name when he and Kayleigh register for his birth certificate.

"Don't tell me you're crying. You'll have me crying next."John isn't one to express his emotions much. Keeping emotions in check had never really been a doddle for him, especially that time where he was crying over the lyrics to Richard Marx's Hazard.

"Give him a minute and he will be." Paul turns to tell Mandy. He was a right bloody joker when he wanted to be. He never did really care what people think of him and his half-cheeky behaviour.

"John that's a very lovely thing of you to do. If this is what you really want then I have no problem with that. Oh...you've got me crying now..." Kayleigh can't argue with him over this. She knows his dad meant the world to him and she thought this was a lovely tribute of him to do.

"Don't tell me you're crying too... you're unbelievable you are Kayleigh" John can't believe the amount of crying she's doing. He doesn't want too much of a fuss being made about his decision.

"What?! It's the sweetest thing I've seen you say." She was proper welling up now. She squeezes his hand as if she's willing him on to get some off his chest.

"You really think so. I guess I just wanted to honour my dad's memory that's all. If he was still alive today, I know how much he'd be chuffed, that I'm named his grandson's middle name after him" John felt tears emerging in the corner of his eyes.

"Are you crying John?" Mandy asks. She could see his chin quivering away and his nose wiggling. She thinks if he is, then he's making very good progress with showing his emotions. She is also pretty convinced there will be hundreds if not thousands of moments where he and Kayleigh will be having a cry after Matthew and brothers/sisters will make them proud when the start to achieve things at school and as young adults. She knows she and Steve still have this to come with Alfie and Chloe as soon as they become teenagers. God forbid.

"Maybe." John answers as he cranes his neck away and tries to shy away potential eye contact.

"See told you" Paul happily reminded the sisters.

"Alright I'm admit I do cry like a big baby sometimes when I think about how my dad would have reacted to becoming a grandad again." John finally comes clean. His teary eyed flushed face is actually quite cute to look at that exact moment.

"Aww John... don't say it like that" Kayleigh sympathizes with him. She leans in and embraces him with the lightest of hugs. She cherishes every time she hugs the man she loves/who is also now the father of her child. She has seen how completely reassured he looks once they've hugged.

Mandy feels her, Steve and Paul should give the couple some alone time, seeing as the two of them clearly look pretty tired after experiencing the delivery together.

"Steve, Paul why don't the three of us go and get something to eat from that cafe down the corridor. I could do with grabbing a sandwich and getting some fresh air outside." Mandy does what she can to usher both of them out the room. Paul gets the message loud and clear. He goes over to embrace his brother once Kayleigh's done with hugging him.

"What is this hug John Redmond day all of a sudden?" John jokes through the remainder of his tears. The three laugh at John's comment.

"But we've only got here Mandy. Can't we hang around in here for another half an hour" Steve can't understand why she wants to leave 20 minutes after arriving.

"Stephen Price one more word of complaint from you and I'll personally see to it those bikes of yours don't see daylight ever again...do you understand?" Mandy was a woman not to be messed with or underestimated and who also had her sister's best interests at heart. She sees Steve has made himself too comfortable in the room much to her annoyance. She had threatened to have the bikes sold without his knowledge once before.

"I'll give mum a ring and tell her the good news." Paul says before whipping his phone out from his right coat pocket. Paul hadn't told her yet that John and Kayleigh were at the hospital. Things were bound to get emotional

Paul quietly popped outside to make the call while Mandy eventually succeeded in getting Steve to come with her to the cafe. The mere mention of Bike magazines being available of the newspaper/magazine stands managed to win him over. Now finding themselves alone John lifts himself up from the armchair and goes to sit on the edge of the bed. He allows Kayleigh to place her arm around him. He can't help but smile to himself as soon as he senses how her hand has conspicuously rested itself on his right bum cheek.

"Mmmm this feels nice..." Kayleigh makes it perfectly clear she's savoring this precious moment which they're sharing. She feels her heart start to pound the moment the two of them lock eyes while they're smiling lovingly at each other. If there was no nurses or doctors constantly walking past the door and if she had made a full recovery by now, she knows she would definitely seduce him right there and then.

"Sounds to me, you've got much more in mind than another hug Kayleigh." John whispers, his eyes are keeping a close lookout for who may enter the room unannounced.

"You betcha." Kayleigh confirms his suspicions, with a suggestive wink.

"Kayleigh me and you are not having sex in this room" John times his comment wrong, just as a different nurse is entering the room, to check to see how they're all doing.

The nurse tries her best to remain thoroughly professional even though her face suggests she's desperate to laugh out loud. "Miss Kitson the doctor should be in to see you tonight." The nurse gave them the good news that they might be able to go home first thing in the morning after Kayleigh and Matthew have been assessed and given the thumbs up to start preparing their belongings for leaving the hospital following the assessments.

She took away Kayleigh's pillows and said she would return with two fresh pillows for her. Kayleigh sat up with her legs now stretched out on the bed.

"Still can't believe we're parents Kayleigh. Feels like the best feeling in the world you know, knowing we created this beautiful baby." John describe his feelings more in-depth. He's learned ever since they started courting that he can bare his heart and soul more to Kayleigh. Love really did make you feel automatically connected to your partner in more ways than one.

"Oh John, now don't be going all Mister Sentimental on me will you because you'll be getting blamed for making me flood this room with my tears in the next minute or two if you carry on talking like this." Kayleigh rubbed in it, trying to make the conversation somewhat light-hearted.

The two sigh contentedly and enjoy ten minutes of uninterrupted silence. John and Kayleigh both can't take her eyes off the hospital cot. During this duration the nurse returns with the two pillows and places them on the headboard behind Kayleigh. She leaves again shortly afterwards.

"I really would like it if we could try for more children" Kayleigh believes they should wait another 12-18 months before they should try again for a second child.

"Eh get you! You've got it all worked out you haven't ya?" John grins at her. Nothing she says anymore literally surprises him because he knows fate has done a deal with him and blessed with having this amazing woman in his life.

"Of course I have silly, what do you expect. I want us to have two sisters for Matthew. Four or five kids would be too much for me to handle" Kayleigh's endearing giggle soon warms the cockles of his heart.

"Us, for us to handle" John politely corrects her on this mistake after he quickly acknowledges she's talking more about how she's going to mind the the baby but has failed to mention his contribution. It soon crosses his mind this isn't the first time in which she has accidentally made this very mistake. She's just naturally someone who forgets certain things or people whenever she feels incredibly excited. He knows he would most likely behaving the same way too, if he wasn't thinking straight and that he would probably get a playfully punch in the bicep from her as a result.

"Sorry I got carried with myself." Kayleigh blushes with bright pink cheeks.

"No surprise there eh" John chuckles. He gets up and goes to check on baby Matthew. He doesn't move an inch as he starts to focus on watching his son sleeping peacefully. Becoming a parent did really make your life feel that extra more complete. Preparing for fatherhood had made him feel a bag of nerves consciously because he thought he wouldn't be good enough when came to changing nappies, let alone being a 'dad of the year' candidate. While attending the maternity classes within the last two months of Kayleigh's pregnancy, John's mind was rightfully changed forever one evening in June when Paul had begged him to mind Ben and Sophie on a school night.

Sophie was so excited at the prospect of getting to meet another cousin. She gave a little poetry speech which left John on the brink of tears. He was so glad that her words had thankfully clicked with him and made realise him how much of a complete 'shithouse' he was himself look, for ever doubting himself. He would be there for Kayleigh as her rock, her knight in shining armour or her Prince Charming...well maybe not Prince Charming as he felt resembled Friar Tuck more.

"John what are you doing?" As ever and perfectly, Kayleigh's voice snapped him out of his reflective thoughts.

"Eh?" John asks. He seems clueless as to how long he has been standing there rooted to the spot. From Kayleigh's viewpoint, she caught a glimpse of him grinning widely and mouthing 'Thank You' to himself.

"Johnathan you've been standing the same position for approximately 10 minutes." He doesn't half love it when she uses the longer version of his name. "Why am I get the impression you were having another of one of your daydreams again. Oh I hope it was me you were daydreaming about and not whatshername off Good Morning Britain."

"Susanna Reid?" John doesn't see there being no problem here whatsoever. Kayleigh herself has admitted in the past to him that she often daydreams about that fella who plays Magic Mike. He told her he wasn't jealous but Kayleigh on the other hand had made it quite clear of how jealous and slightly frustrated she gets of hearing John bringing Susanna Reid up in his sleep.

"Please tell me you're not going to go and run off with her." Kayleigh suddenly feels nervous that John might consider walking away from her and Matthew. She had opened up to Mandy about this bad feeling, her sister thought she was just being ridiculous and had ended up telling her how being pregnancy makes you feel insecure and how messes with your emotions.

John very nearly falls over on his arse laughing, as he responds to Kayleigh's comment. He knows all too well she loves him just as much as he loves her but it did surely amuse him hearing Kayleigh thinking she has competition for his affections. She should know him by now; how she is the keeper of his heart and will remain the love of his life.

"Don't be daft. I love you Kayleigh. I'm only ever going to daydream about you...naked of course and wiggling yourself at me. Susanna Reid is a billion times less the woman you are. You know I have to bloody keep pinching myself, to make sure I'm not dreaming all of this..." John goes over to her and lifts her hand up to his lips. He holds up her hand for a minute or two before he then tenderly places a kiss on the palms of her right and left hand as well as her fingertips.

"Is this your way of trying to get yourself into my good books Johnathan? or " Kayleigh cheekily poses the question of what John's game plan is here.

"Cheeky bitch! Christ can't a man royally treat his girlfriend...the mother of his child the way she wants to be treated." John chuckled softly as his eyes lock themselves with hers. He thinks she's got a right bloody cheek questioning him but as he feels his heart pounding for the second time in the space of three hours, he puts those thoughts aside for the time being and concentrates on pouring his heart out. Settling her worries once and for all. "You know I really think the world of you Kayleigh Kitson..."

"You've said that and all to me before as well" Kayleigh says, interrupting him in such a sassy manner, from what else he had obviously been planning to tell her.

"Kayleigh." John says quietly as he finds himself more and more drawn those brown sparkling eyes of hers.

"Hmmm" Kayleigh's attention has drifted off unsurprisingly. After a year of courting John had come to learn how absent-minded she can often be.

"Kayleigh I'm no pushover you know" John shakes his head in disbelief. She also knows him far too well by now, as if he were assembled furniture from IKEA.

"Johnathan! that's no way to speak to your girlfriend." She snorted with laughter and jiggles her feet about energetically. Once the laughter between the had two eventually died down. They soon found themselves on the cusp of taking the next step of moving in for a much sought after kiss. Fortunately the kiss could only be brief as Paul re-entered the room and they pulled away.

"Woah, woah, woah. Don't tell me you two are considering trying for another baby already." Paul feels he has ask, given that he had just walked in as things looked likely to be getting sexually frisky between his brother and his girlfriend while they were snogging on the edge of her bed.

"One more word out of you and have you'll have Mandy and Steve dashing back in here with celebration banners." John came to the realisation of the fact - your family god bless them and all that but one or two of them really did drive you up the wall even at the best of times.

"So is that a yes?" Paul asks excitedly.

"Steady on will ya. Me and Kayleigh... we're still undecided yet." John tries to throw his brother off the scent because he knows how quickly Paul loves to jump at the chance of spilling the beans to the rest of the family most of the work stuff he's told him about firsthand. John is willingly prepared to fool his brother, _two can play that game_ he thought.

"Me own brother thinks I'm a gossiper...terrific..." Paul doesn't wish to intrude of his brother happiness with his new family. He starts to wonder if whether perhaps his newfound excitement of becoming an uncle has gone to his head and is making him look a right idiot.

"I've heard that said before elsewhere. You and the person who said it would be a right match made in heaven." John says, referring to Elsie. it soon dawns on Kayleigh, the person who John is alluding to is Elsie. The look of horror on her face is received loud and clear by John. He mouths _No...no...no'_ to her. He's verifying with her, just so she knows, he doesn't intend to set up Paul and Elsie on a date or anything. Kayleigh breathes a sigh of relief.

"So anyway how did mum react to the fact that she's become a grandmother for a third time? She's not mad at me for not phoning her is she?" John feels a bit guilty for not calling her when he did. He'll apologize as soon as he sees her next.

"She was in her art and craft class wasn't she. Oh, you should have heard her swearing...pretty loudly I might add. Only went and got herself kicked out the class as a result of her swearing." John and Paul's mum had a notorious and hilarious history of swearing. For eight years she had kept her potty mouth under control however this F word slip according to Paul had landed her in trouble at the age of 62.

"For swearing? World's gone mad. Mum hasn't sworn in years. Well not since that night she called that baldy presenter off MasterChef...an overinflated..sshi..." John tries to replicate the exact swearword his mother had used to calll Gregg Wallace not to incase Matthew's first word may turn out to be a sweary one.

"So anyway mum says she's coming to pick the two of you up tomorrow from here. She's bringing the two bags of baby clothes she bought for Matthew with her. She went and on a secret shopping spree for them last week didn't she."

"I don't blame her. You know I spent all of my first wages on Take That shirts and a life-size cutout of Gary Barlow. Use to sing it at nighttime as if I was auditioning to be a backing singer for Take That." Kayleigh gives a little sigh of content as she reflects on the height of her love for the group's songs. Paul and John both look fairly surprised. Paul could tell how brother had found the perfect match in Kayleigh because he recalls his brother having done exactly the same himself with Dolly Parton merchandise back in the mid 1990s.

"Anyhow I best be heading off before i get overcharged for parking" Paul gives a 'See you in the next few days' wave to Kayleigh. She responds with the same action.

"I'll see you out." John hotfoots it around the bed, to see him out the door. The two clearly have something else to chat about. Kayleigh looks too tired to ponder what the two brothers are up to.

Once John and Paul step outside the room and into the less quieter corridor. Paul gets straight to the point of getting the lowdown from his brother on an important question.

"So when do you plan on popping the question to Kayleigh?" Paul reveals he knows about the engagement ring which John has secretly purchased for Kayleigh to wear on her finger, as soon as their engagement becomes official.

"Christ how do you know about that?" John half panics. He had hoped to keep his proposal under wraps for a month at least.

"I've got psychic abilities haven't I..." Paul can see that John is shitting himself and wondering what last-minute excuse or 'please don't say a word' speech he can think up, to make sure his brother promises he won't let his mouth broadcast what he knows/spoil things.

"Psychic?... what a load of bollocks..." John remembers him using this shit excuse once before.

"Alright. No I saw the ring in your jacket earlier, you idiot. I'm surprised Mandy and Steve didn't spot it themselves." Paul thinks John should have been perhaps more careful with concealing the ring from view.

"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I probably better rethink my intentions and save myself from facing humiliation. Well I'm sorry that's never going to happen because I know exactly what I want most of all... getting down on my knee and proposing that incredibly beautiful woman in the room behind. You want to know why because I've been telling myself for years after I fucked things up with Charlotte, that no woman would want know me if they knew how I broke up with Charlotte . Then Kayleigh entered my life and...my car with a bottle of her urine." John chuckles reflectively to himself. That day in question was as fresh in his mind as it had ever been "She's made me feel stuff I never knew I could ever feel for a woman before. You might say I've met my match in her. If you love someone so much you've got show you're serious about your future with the person you love. I'm serious and that's why this feels right now."

Paul couldn't even find the perfect comeback to respond with to John's summing up speech because he was now finding himself wiping the tears from his eyes with his right thumb. John had a majestic way with words when came to leaving you laughing one minute and then the next minute leaving you shedding endless tears. Also he could see that John's heart was in the right place courtesy of Kayleigh's exceptional love for him.

"Well I best not keep you waiting around out here then. Kayleigh's bound to be smart enough to suss you're hiding something from her. If I was you I'd get back in there..." Paul frogmarches his brother back to the door of the room Kayleigh and Matthew were in. John and Paul embrace for a third and final time that day.

"I'll see you tomorrow at mum's." Paul says as he's walking away from him. John mouths 'Keep your voice down ya dickhead'

John quietly re-enters the room. He sees that Kayleigh has a smile engraved across her face while she's asleep and snoring considerably loud. He also sees she's been rooting through his belongings as his jacket has been folded up and placed by the hospital cot. Much to his surprise, he sees she's wearing the engagement ring on her finger. His dream of planning the perfect proposal had got out the window.

There's a short message she has written for him on the whiteboard above the bed's metal headboard. "I'm so sorry for spoiling your surprise John. I hope you won't be mad with me. My answer is Yes,.Yes I will marry you' John sits down in the armchair and laughs quietly as his face broke into a huge soppy smile. He could hardly believe it, Kayleigh Kitson had outsmarted him while his back was turned. His eyes gazed down at her divine and tranquil facial features. He was already looking forward to some serious snogging once she wakes up. Starting a new chapter with her and their families stepping in with the wedding preparations will no doubt be absolute mayhem but wonderful and memorable at the same time. John honestly could not wait for it to all begin.

 **End of Chapter**

 **All Reviews are Welcome**


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